The 70-year-old worker claims things only got worse after he reported the incidents
A 17-year Lockheed Martin employee alleges he was called a racial slur at work — and faced escalating retaliation after reporting it.
Carnell Artis, a 70-year-old quality control inspector at a Lockheed Martin-owned Sikorsky Aircraft facility in Stratford, Connecticut, filed a federal lawsuit on March 12 claiming he was subjected to racial harassment, disability discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation over a period of years. The case, Artis v. Lockheed Martin Corporation and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation (No. 3:26-cv-00370, D. Conn.), has not yet been decided.
According to the lawsuit, a co-worker used the n-word against Artis on the factory floor in November 2023. During the same period, the co-worker allegedly grabbed Artis's cane — he uses one due to a back injury — and pretended to play golf with it, mocking both his race and his disability.
What happened next may be the part that resonates most with HR leaders. The lawsuit alleges that after Artis reported the incidents, the co-worker was not immediately removed from his work area. Artis was forced to continue working alongside the harasser for about a week, according to the filing. After a brief separation of roughly two weeks, the co-worker was placed back near Artis, where he allegedly stared and leered at him throughout the workday.
The lawsuit alleges that following his internal complaints, Artis experienced a string...
"These people are leading the country towards religious fanaticism, religious bigotry, racism, and even towards war," says the Sinhala-language caption of a Facebook graphic shared on May 2, 2026....