The U.S. government says Exxon Mobil violated federal law by failing to take sufficient action as five hangman's nooses were displayed at a facility in Louisiana.
Credit: AP
BATON ROUGE, La. — Exxon Mobil Corp. violated federal law for failing to take sufficient action as five hangman’s nooses were displayed at its facility in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the U.S. government said in a lawsuit.
According to the government, in January 2020, a Black employee found a hangman’s noose at his worksite at the Baton Rouge complex run by Exxon Mobil Corp. and reported it. At the time, the company knew of three other nooses that had been found at the complex, but it failed to investigate all the complaints and take action to prevent such harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in its lawsuit filed Thursday.
Then, in December 2020, a fifth noose was found at the complex, which includes a chemical plant and nearby refinery. Exxon Mobil’s lack of action created a racially hostile work environment, the EEOC said.
Todd Spitler, a spokesperson for Exxon Mobil, said in a statement Sunday that the company disagrees with the EEOC’s allegations and that it “encourage(s) employees to report claims like this, and we thoroughly investigated.”
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