Lockheed Pays $2.5 Million in Racism Lawsuit
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The world’s largest military contractor will pay a record $2.5 million to a former avionics electrician who claims he was called the N-word, threatened with death and laid off after he reported racism at Lockheed Martin Corp.
The settlement between Lockheed and Charles Daniels, filed in U.S. District Court on Wednesday, was the largest settlement with an individual in a racial discrimination case handled by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
{snip}
Daniels said he was targeted on nearly a daily basis by co-workers while working in South Carolina, Florida, Washington and Hawaii from 1999 to 2001.
Among the allegations: Co-workers told him he could be lynched or buried in a roadside grave where his body would never be found. Weekly Ku Klux Klan newsletters were distributed in an employee break room in South Carolina. One co-worker said “we should do to blacks what Hitler did to the Jews.”
Four co-workers and a crew leader that Daniels worked with are being fired, according to the commission created during the Civil Rights movement.
Lockheed spokesman Joe Stout said these were isolated incidents that don’t reflect the Bethesda, Md.-based company as a whole.
{snip}
Daniels, a former Air Force staff sergeant, said the racism began when he was hired by Lockheed Martin Logistics Management in 1999 in Greenville, S.C., and continued when he and a group of co-workers were transferred to Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii, where they modified P-3 patrol planes for the Navy.
The verbal attacks began when the Confederate flag was removed from South Carolina’s Statehouse, Daniels said. The abuse continued as Daniels and his team moved across the country, with the remarks escalating to threats.
{snip}
Daniels, who is now working in Georgia for another company, said he reported the harassment to Lockheed Martin but no action was taken to protect him. When he was reassigned to work in Maine, he filed his complaint and begged a human resources manager not to force him to go. He was then laid off.
{snip}
The case was settled without going to trial because Lockheed Martin had made it clear they would fight his claims every step of the way, Daniels said.
{snip}
(Posted on January 4, 2008)
Comments
Fake racism creates another millionaire. Blacks are something else aren’t they?
Posted by NordicPhile at 7:38 PM on January 4
If:
“Daniels said he was targeted on nearly a daily basis by co-workers while working in South Carolina, Florida, Washington and Hawaii from 1999 to 2001.”
…then it appears to me that the problem lies with Mr. Daniels and not with Lockheed Martin Corp.
Workplace strife in one location might show evidence of a ‘hostile work environment’ but problems in four different states indicate that Mr. Daniels, and not his co-workers, created these interpersonal difficulties.
It seems Mr. Daniels will have plenty of cash to enjoy during his (most profitable)’early retirement’ from Lockheed Martin. Hopefully, he will use some of it to have that large chip removed from his shoulder and to get treatment for his severe case of paranoia.
Posted by Enough Already! at 7:41 PM on January 4
The case was settled without going to trial because Lockheed Martin had made it clear they would fight his claims every step of the way, Daniels said.
Yes, Lockheed will stand on principle and fight this one all the way. But to smooth things over, here’s $2.5 million.
Posted by Reader-1 at 8:20 PM on January 4
“The case was settled without going to trial because Lockheed Martin had made it clear they would fight his claims every step of the way, Daniels said.”
I’ve read this sentence over and over and it makes no sense to me.
Posted by at 8:49 PM on January 4
I think it’s very damning of Lockhead Martin to settle for a huge amount of money. It’s way too much money for them to pay out just to get rid of a nuisance lawsuit. Something wrong must have happened.
Posted by at 8:56 PM on January 4
Enough Already!,
It appears that the same work environment was relocated 3 times so it was just one group of people: “Daniels, a former Air Force staff sergeant, said the racism started when he was hired by Lockheed Martin Logistics Management in 1999 in Greenville, S.C., and continued as he and a group of co-workers were transferred to Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii, to work on modifying P-3 patrol planes for the Navy.”
Posted by at 9:04 PM on January 4
This whole yarn smells. What White in these days and times would DARE do what this story claims? Something is definitely not right with this claim.
Posted by P Norman at 9:23 PM on January 4
He’ll be dead broke in less than 10 years.
Posted by at 10:03 PM on January 4
Blacks will never stop, it’s genetic to take from Whites as long as Whites are foolish enough to fork it over to them,(i.e. Affirmative action, racism,etc. etc.) Something for nothing is their motto. They are the biggest racists in America.
Posted by at 10:14 PM on January 4
There have been so many black on white hate crimes and so much oppression against white people that many of us can not believe anything from the lips of black people. Sorry but I just can’t do it. They steal, rob, loot, rape, and kill. That’s all I need to know about them and I take action appropriately to protect the civil and human rights of my family and my fellow brothers and sisters.
Posted by Elrey Jones at 10:29 PM on January 4
If this was a white guy who was called the R-word (redneck), exposed to racist newsletters, threatened with death, and then fired for reporting it all, it would make a lot more sense. It would sound a lot like regular ‘ole diversity training.
Posted by Oops the brainwashing wore off me too at 11:59 PM on January 4
And the all black jury agreed….
Posted by Amsterdamsky at 4:27 AM on January 5
People need to realize that most of Lockheed-Martins work is for the US government and is done on a “cost plus” basis. The more that it costs to do the project —then— more is the profit for Lockheed. If they can factor the 2.5 mil settlement to the Black into various government jobs, then this means that WE the taxpayer are paying the 2.5 million to the Black and since Lockheed typically gets 10 to 20 percent profit on the total costs of the project -THIS MEANS that the taxpayer is also giving Lockheed an additional 250 to 500 thousand dollars as their profit on the money they paid to the Black.
Posted by C. Davis at 5:24 AM on January 5
I don’t believe any of the claims, they’re too outrageous.
Posted by Cliff Yablonski at 6:46 AM on January 5
I’ll bet that there would not have been as high an award if someone had been tortured for 3 weeks then burned alive.
Apparently the worst imaginable crime in the USA is using the “n-word”. (or just being accused of it)
Posted by at 7:12 AM on January 5
The thing not mentioned here is that I’m sure martin was just incompetant. In such work as he was involved in there’s no room for anybody who can’t pull there own weight. When someone like martin is forced into a situation like this, there’s no one who can protect him from the natural jibes of his coworkers who see upclose that marin is there solely because of his skin color.
Too bad somebody had to get fired aout it though.
As far as the new outfit he’s working for in Ga., they’re probably in the same boat as Lockheed with him, damned if they get rid of him and damned if they don’t.
Tom Iron…
Posted by Tom Iron... at 7:26 AM on January 5
Before cutting that check for $2.5 million (!) someone should check to see if the guys in the white hoods were even PRINTING weekly newsletters at that time — let alone distributing them in that area. Membership numbers in that group are reported to be mighty low these days. And small, unfunded, race-based org’s don’t usually have the staff or resources to publish new printed material on a WEEKLY basis.
But even if it turns out such pamphlets existed, the idea that white-supremacist material was being FORCED upon black employees in a modern, hi-tech workplace like Lockhead smells mighty fishy to me. This was supposedly being done back in 1999 — and it took almost a DECADE before it came to light? This whole story stinks on ice.
But of course in today’s Bizarro America, a nonwhite doesn’t need to suffer any REAL discrimination to get media attention and collect big payoffs — they merely need to lodge a complaint about it. And as we’ve witnessed too many times in recent years — the Jena Six-on-One being but one example — the complaint doesn’t even have to make a lick of sense. It only has to be hollered loud enough into the right microphones.
Posted by at 9:09 AM on January 5
It sounds to me like this guy couldn’t take a joke. This is another reason diversity doesn’t work. Differences are exaggerated and they become targets of ribbing or ridicule.
It’s like that black firefighter who went by the nickname ‘dog’ and then he sued the city for ‘racial’ harassment when his firefighter buddies put dog food on his plate. If it was an all black firehouse and a black co-worker did such a thing, there would never have been any claim of ‘racism’.
DIveristy is DIvisive.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 9:54 AM on January 5
“The case was settled without going to trial because Lockheed Martin had made it clear they would fight his claims every step of the way, Daniels said.”
The lawyers who negotiated this “settlement” must be laughing all the way to the bank. Whew! God forbid it had made itself into a courtroom where ACTUAL proof of purported harrassment might have had to be established.
To the posters above who sniff a whiff of hi-jinks at work, I couldn’t agree more. After all, a willingness to “fight his claims every step of the way” would have entailed taking it to trial or a cheap payoff at best.
Posted by Voir Dire at 11:19 AM on January 5
These claims are downright laughable. I’ve worked in dozens of “diverse” situations and the racism always flows in one direction - from non-Whites toward Whites.
Non-Whites are always racist in their attitudes and behaviours toward Whites and Whites are always understanding and accomadating toward non-Whites.
I have never, ever, not even once, seen Whites speak or act in a racist way toward non-Whites, although I have longed to see it.
Posted by Russ at 11:39 AM on January 5
Does anyone really believe that the white guys at Lockheed’s Skunk Works who designed and built the U-2, SR-71 and F-117 thought that lack of diversity was hindering their progress? They produced the greatest airplanes that ever flew because, in addition to being blessed with the presence of Kelly Johnson, the man who could “see air,” they hired the best people and gave no thought to the fact that the best didn’t include blacks. Now you can go to Lockheed’s website and discover their commitment to diversity. Why? Only to keep the PC piranhas off their backs.
Posted by at 12:26 AM on January 6
This is how big companies deal with things —- and Lockheed doesn’t want to get caught up in too much exposure.
I know; I screwed over many employees and the company stood behind me all the way. So far, none of them has come back to haunt me but I guess, sooner or later, that will happen.
It’s good that companies have such big pockets and can take their chances. The occasional $2.5 million is NOTHING compared to the PROFIT that Lockheed Martin makes in just one year ($2.5 BILLION for Y/E 2006).
Well - I am retiring soon, so I won’t have to worry about this stuff anymore!
Posted by Dick Tedesco at 2:11 AM on January 6
So being called a name gets you wealthy? Damn! I’m in the wrong racket.
Posted by at 9:47 AM on January 6
I don’t understand how whites raised in this country could speak like racists, ESPECIALLY at work. Something is not right about this fellows complaints; how about the five coworkers that were fired, what is their side of it?
Posted by at 3:02 PM on January 6
This kind of stuff can’t go on forever. Nothing like this can last. All you people feeding off this system, you’re living in paradise right now. It ain’t going to stay that way.
Posted by Tim at 12:18 AM on January 7
When it becomes evident that someone may try to use the legal system, the bias media, and the knowledge that a company like Lockheed will bow down every time, why doesn’t somebody have the sense to start documenting things or making recordings. This type of racila extortion will never stop until someone gets their ducks in a row and makes the Sharptons and Jacksons of the world, eat their words. It’s very easy to document every act or situation that you may think is relevant and put it in a little log book. Note dates, times, and who was in the room at the time. Little pocket digital recorders are amazing for their sound quality and can easily fit in a shirt pocket. Most importantly, people have to stand together and make some noise in the opposite direction when this stuff happens. The next time Sharpton threatens to boycot an establishment because he is trying to extort money from them, people need to band together and pledge to patronize the business as long as Sharpton and Jackson want to boycot it. These types of double standards are doing more to foster racism in this country than anything in 40 years.
Posted by Carl at 6:27 PM on January 9