Benefits July 6, 2006

Albertson's Hit with EEOC Discrimination Charge

July 6, 2006 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Federal officials have sued a national grocery chain for what they said was a decade of harassment against black and Hispanic workers at a metro Denver distribution center.
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The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said it filed the suit against Albertson’s Inc. in US District court in Denver on Wednesday, according to a Denver Business Journal report.

According to the agency, Albertson’s “failed to respond to countless drawings and paintings of swastikas, nooses and other threats of violence against black and Hispanic employees” at its Aurora distribution center.

Warehouse employees and at least one non-employee made “countless complaints” about the racist graffiti, the EEOC said. In response to the complaints, the lawsuit alleged that one management-level official said, “Truck drivers do the graffiti; I don’t.”

The lawsuit also charged that the company discriminated against minority employees when assigning jobs and enforcing disciplinary policies.

Based in Idaho, Albertson’s is the country’s second largest chain of grocery stores and has more than 1,100 locations nationwide.

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