‘HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT’

ExxonMobil Did Nothing When Black Employee Found Noose: Lawsuit

The oil company was even aware of multiple instances of a hangman’s noose being hung in one of their buildings, but made nothing of it, according to a new lawsuit.

When a Black employee at ExxonMobil’s Baton Rouge complex discovered a hangman’s noose at his worksite in Jan. 2020, it wasn’t the first time. According to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the incident had happened three times before—and would happen again in December that year. ExxonMobil is being sued by the EEOC for race discrimination, alleging the petrochemical company violated federal law by failing to take measures, or even act, when the nooses were reported. At the time the worker reported the incident, “ExxonMobil was aware that three other nooses had been displayed at the Baton Rouge complex,” the EEOC said in a statement. “The EEOC alleges that ExxonMobil investigated some, but not all, of the prior incidents and failed to take measures reasonably calculated to end the harassment. ExxonMobil’s actions and omissions regarding the noose incidents created a racially hostile work environment.” Elizabeth Owen, a senior EEOC trial attorney, explained its significance: “A noose is a longstanding symbol of violence associated with the lynching of African Americans. Such symbols are inherently threatening and significantly alter the workplace environment for Black Americans.” The EEOC filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana after “first trying to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process,” it said.