‘STANDING UP’

Black Hyundai Workers Compare Plant to a ‘Plantation’

The men allege Black employees were once told a white manager was their “master.”

Five workers of a Hyundai plant in Alabama are suing the car maker for alleged racial discrimination, claiming that in one incident Black subordinates were told a white manager was their “master.” The workers, all Black men, allege the company failed to promote qualified Black candidates, even though Black people made up the majority of the plant’s employees, and that Black workers who made racial discrimination complaints were retaliated against. “These men…are risking good paying jobs by standing up for their rights,” the plaintiffs’ attorney Artur Davis said. “They are frustrated but they refuse to work on a plantation, and no one is their master.” In a statement, Hyundai said it provides a work environment that is “free of discrimination.”