Whiting-Turner settles racial harassment suit for $1.2 million
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. will pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit, which alleged that the Baltimore construction company subjected Black employees to a racially hostile work environment at a Tennessee job site.
The suit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also alleged the Towson-based construction management and contracting company fired two employees who had brought concerns over discrimination at the job site, where the federal agency claimed racist graffiti was scrawled on multiple structures and Black employees were called epithets while being denied certain jobs.
In a statement, Whiting-Turner CEO Tim Regan said there was “no credible evidence that any Whiting-Turner employees were involved in the actions alleged,” and the company settled “in order to avoid the cost and expense of a protracted trial.”
“Whiting-Turner has denied liability or wrongdoing from the beginning of this case and we are proud of our efforts to combat discrimination and to promote diversity and inclusion within the company and on our job sites,” Regan said.
In documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Whiting-Turner denied the job site was a hostile workplace environment and claimed the two employees were not retaliated against, but fired because they were bullying another employee.
U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw Jr. signed off on a consent decree detailing the settlement last Wednesday.
The matter was settled in March before a trial scheduled for April, according to court records.
The $1.2 million settlement will be paid to the two employees who had been fired, as well as a class of Black employees who worked at the job site, according to the consent decree, which also orders the contracting company to revise its anti-harassment policies and provide annual training at all job sites.
In a statement, EEOC Chair Charlotte A. Burrows said the allegations were a “prime example” of the need for the federal agency’s efforts to “eliminate racism in the construction industry.”
“Unfortunately, the shocking findings of the EEOC’s investigation in this case are not an isolated occurrence in the industry,” she said.