The Morton Salt company faces a civil rights lawsuit filed by the EEOC on behalf of a Black man with gout who says he endured four months of workplace discrimination and retaliation because of his race and disability before he was illegally fired.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on Sept. 30, charging that the salt producer mistreated its Black employee, Daryl Dorsey, after he opposed and reported a white co-worker who had a known history of using racial slurs and harassing other workers.
The lawsuit claims that Morton Salt’s conduct violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act.
The EEOC alleges that Kurt Conkle, a white employee who mentored and trained Dorsey after he was hired in May of 2022, had a reported history of using slurs like “n—er” and “worthless “n—er” and engaging in “harassing, abusive, mean-spirited and threatening behavior” since 2019, according to employee reports.
In June 2019, Morton Salt issued a letter stating that Conkle’s “unwelcomed behavior is considered harassing to his co-workers, creating a Hostile Work Environment.” Conkle was fired at that time but rehired a week later, according to the complaint.
Dorsey said Conkle subjected him to “unfavorable treatment on the basis of race,” citing as an example a training meeting at Morton Salt where Conkle made statements suggesting that Dorsey and others attending the training were stupid, slow, and did not know how to follow directions or read.
In July of 2022, Dorsey reported Conkle’s statements to supervisors in the company’s human resources office, whom he alleged did not adequately investigate his complaint or take any action against Conkle despite his previous history of misconduct.
The day after Dorsey filed his complaint, he received an evaluation that rated him “unsatisfactory” in the category of “relations with others,” specifying “Altercation with Kurt Conkle” as the reason for the poor rating.
The lawsuit argues that his unsatisfactory evaluation was “unwarranted” and constituted unlawful retaliation and racial discrimination.
In August of 2022, Dorsey reported to a supervisor that his car had been tampered with, making the brakes inoperable and that he suspected that Conkle or someone assisting him had likely done so in retaliation. Dorsey asked for security footage to help determine what had occurred.
He alleges that company officials discussed but did not further investigate his concern, and on the following day, they transferred Dorsey from the “pellet area” where he worked to a different department, a move he had not requested.
Later that month, a supervisor, Drew Mummert, sent an email to another manager expressing concerns about Dorsey’s ability to work due to a “permanent partial impairment” and suggested that the company contact a health care provider to make inquiries about whether working at Morton Salt could and/or would aggravate his impairment.
On Sept. 22, 2022, Morton Salt fired Dorsey for reasons the lawsuit claims are “pretextual,” but does not detail. The complaint also says Morton Salt’s records show that “persons to whom the company allegedly compared Dorsey were treated more favorably, including persons identified as white.”
On Sept. 27, 2022, Dorsey made a complaint of racial discrimination and retaliation against Morton Salt’s management. He also let them know he had made a complaint to the EEOC. The company refused to rehire him.
The EEOC said it filed the lawsuit on Dorsey’s behalf after first attempting to reach a prelitigation settlement through its conciliation process, which failed.
The lawsuit claims that Morton Salt violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against Dorsey on the basis of race, including when the company subjected him to disparate treatment, disparate terms and conditions of employment, discipline and discharge; refused to reinstate or rehire him; and when the company failed to investigate or take appropriate action concerning his complaints or reports about Conkle, race discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination.
Morton Salt also violated the Americans With Disabilities Act when it took adverse action against Dorsey because he was disabled, the EEOC argued, noting that the company regarded Dorsey as disabled because he has gout and/or another “permanent partial impairment.”
As a result of the intentional civil rights and ADA violations, the complaint says Dorsey was deprived of wages and employment benefits and suffered other compensable harm.
The EEOC seeks an order to force Morton Salt to “promulgate and carry out policies and practices which provide equal employment opportunities to people protected by Title VII and the ADA, and which eradicate the effects of its past and present unlawful employment practices, including discrimination and retaliation.”
It also asks for back pay and front pay for Dorsey, compensation for past and future pecuniary losses and emotional pain and suffering, and punitive damages for the company’s “malicious and reckless conduct.”
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Dorsey by the EEOC was one of a trio of lawsuits filed on Sept. 30 charging that Black employees were subjected to race discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Sixty years after the passage of Title VII, it remains more important than ever to ensure that employees are not discriminated against due to the color of their skin,” said EEOC Philadelphia Regional Attorney Debra Lawrence. “These cases underscore how insidious race discrimination is and why it is necessary for EEOC to step in and defend employees against such misconduct.”
Morton Salt did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Atlanta Black Star.
In a statement on its website about “Morton Salt’s Commitment to Racial & Social Justice,” posted in 2020 in the wake of “the senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks and far too many more,” the company said, “the time is now to step up and unite in the fight against racism and social injustice.”
It noted that “as a company, we haven’t done nearly enough. We must own our truth, and take responsibility to do better in every possible way by better supporting the Black community inside and outside of Morton Salt.”
The company promised to take action “to review and enhance our employment practices and policies including hiring, promotion and pay,” and to improve training around its existing code of business conduct and ethics “that defines our commitment to fostering a safe, inclusive environment, where discrimination of any kind is not tolerated.”