The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit against two York County trucking companies, alleging that their owner created a racially hostile environment for his black workers.
The suit, filed Sept. 7, alleges that Tony McMillan, owner of T-N-T of York County Inc. and TM Trucking of the Carolinas LLC, subjected multiple employees to racial harassment, in some cases using of the n-word. The lawsuit also alleges that McMillan made derogatory comments regarding African-Americans, including comments stating that blacks cannot read and write.
According to the EEOC, former employees Rodney Dunlap and Warren Chisolm filed discrimination charges against McMillan. Dunlap resigned in January 2014, seven months after he was hired, alleging that McMillan made racist comments. Chisolm quit the company in June of that year.
“An owner’s use of the ‘N-word’ and other racial slurs in the workplace is of tremendous concern to the Commission because there is no one more senior in the company to whom the offended employees can complain,” Lynette Barnes, regional attorney for EEOC’s Charlotte district office, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit.
The EEOC is seeking monetary relief, including back pay and damages, for Dunlap, Chisolm and other black employees subjected to the alleged racial harassment. The agency is also seeking injunctive relief to prevent future harassment.
McMillan has faced harassment charges before. In 2014, the EEOC sued his companies alleging sexual harassment of a female employee. EEOC settled that suit with a consent decree, which became effective in March 2016.
Efforts to reach McMillan were unsuccessful. A person who answered the phone at the trucking company said “no comment” and hung up.
