Former Lake Winnie HR manager alleges racial bias
Owners of amusement park deny allegations
A former employee of Lake Winnepesaukah is suing the park and claiming he was the victim of racial discrimination while he worked there.
The former employee, Eric Lewis, claims in the suit that right when he started the job, he heard fellow employees use the N-word and witnessed other African American employees being treated less favorably, being paid less than their white counterparts and getting “stereotyped and assigned roles based on race.”
Talley Green, spokesperson for Lake Winnepesaukah, said the park’s policy is not to comment on pending litigation but the park “adamantly denies the
allegations and will defend the suit vigorously.”
In the lawsuit, Lewis said he was hired as a human resources manager at the park in January of 2019. According to the lawsuit, he was promised a salary of $45,000 and another $5,000 a year after working for three months.
Lewis claims in at least one instance a white man working under him would refuse to do what Lewis said because he is black. Lewis alleges his subordinate said, “You can’t tell me what to do. I will get your black ass gone.”
Lewis made a report of the incident to corporate but no action was taken, the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit claims that, in another instance, Lake Winnepesaukah CEO Adrienne Rhodes asked Lewis to hire three security guards to work the night shift — one white guard and two black guards “so they could deal with their people,” the lawsuit alleges.
Lewis also claims Rhodes said the white security guard would be there to “watch the two blacks,” the lawsuit alleges.
When Lewis asked Rhodes if he could hire more than two black security guards, she responded with, “No, we just want two. We don’t want stuff walking out of [the] park,” the lawsuit claims.
The tipping point for Lewis came on May 18, 2019, according to the lawsuit, after an African American employee was accused of stealing $100 from a guest and an investigation by Lewis found the allegations against the employee were true.
Lewis reviewed what the company did in similar situations and found in the past with white employees, they were fired but police weren’t contacted. However, Lewis claims Rhodes “demanded” that in addition to having the employee fired, the police should be called and criminal charges should be brought.
Lewis claims Rhodes wanted to make an example of the black employee. The police were called and the employee was “paraded out of the park in handcuffs,” according to the lawsuit. Lewis then resigned. Lewis is suing for lost pay, plus compensatory and punitive damages, among other remedies.
Stephen Mixon, Lewis’ attorney, said he anticipates “witness testimony that should be pretty explosive.”