Supervisors mocked Latino construction workers for not speaking English, feds say

Supervisors at a California construction company are accused of mocking Latino workers and telling them to go back to their country, federal officials said.

Now Goodsell/Wilkins, Inc. is facing a federal lawsuit for subjecting Latino workers to racial and sexual harassment, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a Tuesday, Sept. 27 news release.

Goodsell/Wilkins, Inc. is a framing and dry walling company based in Orange County. It did not immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.

Supervisors for the company are accused of using racial slurs toward Latino employees, mocking them for not speaking English and telling them to go back to their country “since at least 2019,” federal officials said.

Workers also found graffiti in the portable bathrooms at worksites that included racial slurs and offensive drawings directed at Latino workers, according to the release.

Additionally, a supervisor is accused of sexually harassing workers by calling them derogatory names, showing employees explicit photos and threatening sexual assault, the release says.

When one employee from Mexico reported the harassment, he was fired, the complaint states.

Others were also discharged from the company, federal officials said.

The EEOC’s lawsuit “seeks compensatory and punitive damages for a class of Latino employees, as well as injunctive relief intended to prevent any future discrimination in the workplace.”

The harassment, firing and discharging of the Latino employees violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which protects workers from discrimination, race harassment and retaliation, officials said.

“National origin, race, and sex harassment remain a persistent problem in the construction industry,” Anna Park, EEOC’s regional attorney of the Los Angeles District Office, said in the release. “Change cannot happen without those brave enough to speak out, and change in this industry, with its persistent issues, is long overdue.”

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