There have been six in all since last year, but attorney says there could be more
MIDLAND, Mich. (WJRT) – Not one, not two, but six racial discrimination lawsuits have been filed since last year against Dow Chemical in Midland.
The plaintiffs are African-American and claim their Dow coworkers and supervisors discriminated against them and when they complained, they faced retaliation.
While six lawsuits have been filed so far, their attorney says its possible there will be several more.
“I didn’t intend to be filing a bunch of lawsuits against them,” says attorney Carla Aikens.
But after she filed this discrimination lawsuit on behalf of Dow Chemical employee Sushma Jones, her phone started ringing.
“I became aware of others who were having similar issues,’ says Aikens.
Those issues spelled out in the lawsuits include being called racial slurs, being passed over for promotions and receiving harsher discipline than non-black co-workers for similar miscues.
When they complained, they felt retaliated against.
In Jones’s case, she claims a white co-worker referred to her as looking like Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and became an abolitionist and civil rights activist.
“It just seems like there is a barrier for people of color, in particular African American people, and I think because it’s Dow, it’s a behemoth up there, that people have been scared to come forward,” says Aikens.
The six who have filed lawsuits have or had various jobs at Dow dating back to as far as 2017, ranging from warehouse jobs to working with chemicals.
The lawsuits indicate at least two of the employees were fired, while at least two others remain working for the company.
“It takes a lot of courage to come forward against a place you are currently working, but that should let everyone know the situation was that serious, that they were willing to risk retaliation or whatever happened to them,” she says.
While some employees are accused of exhibiting racial bias in the lawsuits, Aikens claims Dow is at fault.
“Not stopping it and not intervening is where it comes back to Dow’s responsibility to make sure the environment is not like that,” says Aikens.
Dow has released this statement, saying “Dow does not tolerate any form of discrimination and takes any allegations of discrimination and retaliation seriously. Our extensive internal reviews do not substantiate the allegations in these complaints. Dow will vigorously defend itself against any unsupported allegations. Our unwavering commitment to our core value of Respect for People is further demonstrated through our consistent recognition as a top workplace globally.”
Since the cases have been recently filed, Dow did not want to comment further.