Boss ‘joked’ about shooting Black people, and worker who complained was fired, feds say

A Black employee was subjected to racist treatment at an Oklahoma-based company and eventually fired after he began complaining about it, according to a federal lawsuit.

The company, American Piping Inspection, Inc., recently settled with federal prosecutors and agreed to pay $250,000 in compensation, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a Dec. 23 news release.

The employee was hired as a radiographer at the company’s Midland, Texas, office in 2017, and used X-ray imaging devices to inspect pipelines and related facilities, documents say. The lawsuit alleges his supervisor used the N-word to refer to him and made racist and threatening “jokes.”

“On behalf of American Piping Inspection, we respect the judgment of the EEOC, and the company is committed to extensive policy review and performance management training,” Craig Wilcox, the attorney representing American Piping Inspection, said in a statement to McClatchy News. “The action of this former manager is not reflective of the company or of the culture cultivated among our (number of) employees since API’s launch almost 17 years ago.”

In one such joke, the supervisor asked him: “What is the best way to see a Black man? At the end of a scope,” documents say, adding the supervisor gestured at him “as if aiming a firearm.”

The employee voiced his concerns to a company vice president, but no action was taken and the racist behavior continued, according to the lawsuit.

He also tried speaking with the supervisor directly. He responded with sarcastic apologies and nothing changed, the lawsuit says.

The company started punishing the employee for standing up for himself, falsely citing him for improperly storing and logging equipment, prosecutors say. He was eventually fired in September 2018.

During that same period, “at least” 10 white radiographers committed the same infractions he was accused of, but none were fired, the lawsuit says.

In addition to paying $250,000 in damages, the company is required to “revise its anti-discrimination policies” and institute mandatory training for managers and others to “ensure they know their legal obligation to prevent, address, and remedy workplace discrimination,” an EEOC release says.

This story was originally published December 27, 2022 at 12:53 PM with the headline "Boss ‘joked’ about shooting Black people, and worker who complained was fired, feds say."