Waste Pro of Florida will pay $1.4 million and implement systemic changes after 26 Black and Haitian American employees were subjected to racial slurs, unequal treatment and harassment, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The settlement resolves a federal lawsuit filed by the EEOC against the waste management company’s Jacksonville operations, where Black workers were allegedly assigned worse routes and trucks, and endured repeated racial insults from co-workers and managers.
Some employees were called the N-word, “monkey” and “boy,” and told to “go back to Haiti on the banana boat,” said the EEOC. In one incident, a stuffed monkey carrying an American flag was placed in an employee’s work area before an anti-discrimination training. The worker, who had previously complained of racist abuse, pleaded with management to remove it, but they refused.
“This case underscores the urgent need for the EEOC’s ongoing efforts to eliminate racism in the waste management industry,” said Kristen Foslid, EEOC’s regional attorney in Miami.
The three-year consent decree requires the company to provide training on race discrimination to its CEO and human resources staff, establish a centralized complaint tracking system, and appoint an external compliance officer to oversee investigations. Waste Pro must also conduct exit interviews and implement a race-neutral seniority system for route assignments.
Evangeline Hawthorne, director of the EEOC’s Miami District, said the agency hopes the decree “will send a message that the EEOC will fully investigate employers accused of discriminating against Haitian American and Black employees.”
The lawsuit was filed after a single worker brought a charge to the EEOC. “Because of his actions, the company was forced to undergo significant change and 26 of his coworkers will receive some measure of justice for the discrimination they endured,” said EEOC trial attorney Austin Case.
