‘Happy Juneteenth n-----.’ Racist text sent to CLT workers spurs rash of lawsuits

The Sunday text message arrived on a work thread. The date was June 20, 2021.

“Happy Father’s Day,” it began, noting the holiday being celebrated that day.

Then, it said this: “and happy Juneteenth n-----,” with the racial epithet spelled out.

The text, according to new allegations in federal court, had been written by a white supervisor at Carolina Environmental Response Team, or CERT, a Charlotte company that handles chemical spills, hazardous waste disposal and other environmental needs.

It had been sent to a group of some 15 company workers. Documents claim that at least six of them were Black. All six complained to higher-ups about the content and timing of the text, the documents claim.

Within weeks or a few months, according to the documents, five of the six had either been forced to quit or had been fired outright.

Now all six are taking their former employer to court.

In a series of almost identical lawsuits filed in the Western District of North Carolina, the Black employees accuse Carolina Environmental of racial discrimination, retaliation and constitutional violations.

They also claim that they were forced to endure a hostile work environment where employees, “including those in supervisory and managerial positions, felt emboldened to engage in racist and discriminatory conduct against Black employees without repercussion.”

Lee Shank, the company’s owner and vice president, told The Charlotte Observer on Monday that the allegations are not true — that Carolina Environmental punished the purported author of the text; and that the company does not discriminate against its Black employees.

The lawsuits, Shank claims, are simply a “money grab” by the former workers and their attorney, Daniel Lyon of Charlotte.

Lyon’s law firm said he was out of the office this week and unavailable for comment.

The power of the N word

The civil complaints against Carolina Environmental offer the latest example of the sometimes explosive and litigious intrusion of race into the workplace.

The federal courts already have ruled that a single use of a racial epithet can justify a hostile workplace claim.

In October, for example, a federal appeals court revived a lawsuit filed by a Rutherford County worker who claims she was repeatedly slurred with the N-word by her boss’s 6-year-old son.

“The N-word has a special place,” UNC law professor Jeffrey Hirsch told the Observer at the time. “The courts are far less likely to tolerate it. It holds much more sway than any other word.”

In the recent cases, there is also the matter of timing. That the N-word was used on a company message thread the day after Juneteenth, which marks the anniversary of the emancipation of American slaves, makes its usage even more galling, the CERT lawsuits claim.

The Black workers — James Baker, Marcus Nesbit and Robert Ashcraft, all of Mecklenburg County, Joshua White of Gaston County, Frank Streater of Union County, and Ameal Graham of Guilford County — say the Juneteenth text was not the first racist remark or joke they’d heard from their white co-workers, and that their complaints about the text were “brushed off” at the time by Shank, who was included on the original message thread.

They also claim that the company’s discrimination went deeper than online messaging — that they were paid less than white employees and were routinely passed over for promotions.

Five of the six say they were “constructively discharged,” meaning that they left the company in response to intolerable or hostile working conditions. The sixth, James Baker, was fired. He claims in his lawsuit that he was the victim of retaliation.

Now they want their jobs back, along with missed salaries and benefits, as well as damages in excess of $30,000.

‘You guys all know me better’

Shank said he started Carolina Environmental 12 years ago, and that the company has just under two dozen employees. Currently, he says, four of them are Black.

During a Monday phone interview with the Observer, Shank claimed the lawsuits misrepresent both the actual events surrounding the text message and his company’s response.

He alleges that one of the plaintiffs — Frank Streater — did not even work for Carolina Environmental when the text went out, and that another — Robert Ashcraft — stayed with CERT for another year before leaving after a receiving a worker’s compensation settlement for an on-the-job injury.

Only one employee — Baker — was fired, Shank said, and that was due to him having multiple, on-the-job accidents as a company truck driver.

Shank said the purported author of the racist text — whom Shank claims was never a supervisor — was suspended for a week. The white worker claimed that someone else used his phone at his home to send the message, Shank said.

The worker kept his job, Shank said, because it appeared the employees had worked out the dispute among themselves.

While acknowledging that the lawsuits make him appear as a “dirt dumb racist,” Shank maintains that his company does not discriminate on pay, promotions or in the treatment of his employees.

A portion of the original Father’s Day 2021 message thread shows the racist text, which was sent at 1:27 p.m., drew an immediate response from several employees.

“I really do not appreciate that one bit and nothing is funny about it,” Marcus Nesbit, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits, wrote four minutes after the offensive post appeared.

A worker named “Josh,” whom Shank identified as plaintiff Joshua White, added: ”Wow, that’s sum bs to say.”

As part of the lawsuit filings, Shank’s response in the message thread is reduced to one, partially hidden line.

According to a screen-grab he shared with the Observer, Shank said this in full:

“I have no clue why that text was sent but i hope each and everyone of you know where I and CERT stand on that matter.”

The white employee whose phone sent the racist text, joined back in.

“A jack ass visiting picked up my phone(.) I handled it,” he wrote. “You guys all know me better.”

Nesbit, who expressed disgust at the original text, then appeared to vouch for his white co-worker.

“I really don’t believe (the co-worker) did that because (he) is one of the nicest people (I‘ve) met since I’ve been working for Lee ... he’s not that type of guy ...

“have a happy Father’s Day.”