John Deere sued by Des Moines Works employee who says he was subjected to racist jokes, threats
A veteran Iowa employee recently sued Deere & Co., alleging that co-workers and supervisors subjected him to racist jokes and threats for years.
Johnnie Ray Hogan III, who has worked at John Deere Des Moines Works in Ankeny since 2010, said many employees called him "the angry black man" and refused to associate with him once he complained about how they treated him, according to a lawsuit filed in Polk County District Court in late June. He also alleged that his managers scrutinized his work more.
Hogan, 40, of Pleasant Hill, is suing the company for harassment and discrimination on the basis of race, as well as retaliation.
"John Deere has allowed a culture of racism to flourish and thrive within the Des Moines Works facility," his attorney, Roxanne Conlin, wrote in the complaint. "... Johnnie Hogan has been insulted, harassed, belittled, humiliated, and excluded all because he is a black male."
More: John Deere is moving its tractor cab production from Waterloo to Mexico
Deere employs about 1,000 workers at the Ankeny factory, best known for its production of sprayers and cotton pickers. Lawyers for the company have not filed an answer to the complaint.
"We do not comment on pending litigation," a spokesperson said Friday. "However, workplace discrimination and harassment have no place at John Deere and the allegations do not reflect our principles and expectations of our employees."
According to the lawsuit, a co-worker gave Hogan the nickname "the angry black man" in 2019. The name stuck, with other co-workers and supervisors allegedly using it during meetings.
In December of that year, according to the lawsuit, Hogan's supervisor in the shipping department called him into her office and showed him a picture of a biracial baby. She allegedly asked him, "Which one of your cousins or homies got ahold of my baby?"
During a lunch break in January 2020, according to the lawsuit, three co-workers joked about Hogan eating fried chicken, a racist trope about Black people. When Hogan told one co-worker that he had worked in the cotton department, the co-worker allegedly said, "It's good you and your ancestors have something in common," an apparent allusion to U.S. slaves picking cotton in the 1800s.
In March 2020, according to the lawsuit, a co-worker asked Hogan to teach him how to make cornbread because his wife "really likes black people cornbread." Hogan said that he told a civil rights liaison about his co-workers' racist comments in November 2020. But, according to the lawsuit, "nothing happened as a result."
A month later, Hogan's team leader allegedly threatened him, saying he "needed to be chained to a dock." That same day, according to the lawsuit, a co-worker told Hogan that no one would be able to find him if someone threw him into a box filled with black machine parts.
More: Iowa DOT offers tips on safely sharing the road with farm vehicles
In January 2021, according to the lawsuit, a supervisor and some co-workers began to call Hogan "boy." Some supervisors and co-workers allegedly called him a racial slur around that time.
In March 2021, the company fired one of Hogan's supervisors after Hogan complained to Deere's head of labor relations, according to the lawsuit. Hogan said he felt isolated afterward, with co-workers and supervisors avoiding him.
He alleged that one supervisor walked away from him whenever he tried to talk to her. Other Deere employees said they would only talk to Hogan with a witness present, according to the lawsuit.
After Hogan filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in March 2021, he said that managers "began to over-supervise him and harass him over menial matters," according to the lawsuit. He said they tracked how long he went to the bathroom and visited his work station eight to 12 times a day, "far more often than any other assemblers."
"Plaintiff is constantly worried about what will happen next and is walking on eggshells to avoid angering his supervisors who are always watching him," Conlin wrote in the complaint.
In late May, according to the lawsuit, Deere granted Hogan short-term disability after he said he was suffering from mental and emotional distress.
In addition to asking for damages, Hogan asked a judge to file an injunction against Deere and the supervisors, requiring them to take steps to avoid further racial discrimination at the factory.
Tyler Jett covers jobs and the economy for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at tjett@registermedia.com, 515-284-8215, or on Twitter at @LetsJett.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: John Deere Des Moines Works employee sues over racist jokes, threats
