WORKER CLAIMS RACISM AT HOME DEPOT BLACK EX-EMPLOYEE FILES SUIT, SAYS HE WAS TAUNTED ON THE JOB.Byline: BRAD A. GREENBERG Staff Writer Antwion Lewis' suffering began with racial slurs about being black. Next came the taunts of two colleagues clad in Klansmen hoods. Finally, hangman's nooses hangman’s noose characteristic knot for death by hanging. [Pop. Cult.: Misc.] See : Execution were strategically placed in the Woodland Hills' Home Depot The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is an American retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. Headquartered in Vinings, just outside Atlanta in unincorporated Cobb County, Georgia, Home Depot employs more than 355,000 people and operates 2,164 big-box where he worked. Those were among the allegations included in a racial harassment Ask a Lawyer Question Country: United States of America State: Nevada I recently moved to nev.from abut have been going back to ca. every 2 to 3 weeks for med. and discrimination lawsuit that Lewis filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Superior Court against The Home Depot, where he worked from April 2002 until he was fired last year, allegedly for complaining about harassment. ``It makes you a little nervous, a little nauseous nauseous /nau·seous/ (naw´shus) pertaining to or producing nausea. nau·seous adj. 1. Causing nausea. 2. Affected with nausea. ,'' said Lewis, 30, of North Hollywood. ``I really thought something was going to happen, something was going to go down.'' Lewis claims that as the harassment escalated, he repeatedly sent letters to the human-resources department, which ignored his pleas. ``No matter how many times I report it, nothing gets done,'' the lawsuit quotes from an October 2004 report Lewis filed after allegedly finding a fourth noose. And the more he complained, he said, the worse the treatment became. The Home Depot's corporate office would not discuss the case. ``The Home Depot is an equal-opportunity employer and maintains a zero-tolerance policy Noun 1. zero-tolerance policy - any policy that allows no exception; "a zero-tolerance policy toward pedophile priests" policy - a line of argument rationalizing the course of action of a government; "they debated the policy or impolicy of the proposed legislation" against discrimination,'' spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said in a prepared statement. ``We are extremely disappointed that these allegations are being made, and we look forward to responding to them in the appropriate forum.'' The lawsuit was filed on the heels of a former Los Angeles firefighter's racial-harassment claim that highlighted the vastly different perspectives blacks and whites have regarding racism in L.A. The firefighter, who is black, won a $2.7 million payout from the City Council after his spaghetti was spiked with dog food as a prank. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. vetoed the settlement amid public outrage over the amount, and the council failed to override the veto. Lewis is not the first to accuse the Woodland Hills' Home Depot of racism. Kamau Barr and Troy Crisp, who are both black, sued in 2004. The case was settled out of court last year for an unspecified amount. Lewis' attorneys, Joshua Piovia-Scott and Randy Renick, represented Barr. Lewis began working at The Home Depot shortly after moving to L.A. from Indianapolis to pursue a music career. Soon, his supervisor began referring to him as ``my n-----,'' the suit claims, and harassment quickly escalated. ``When I first heard what happened to Mr. Lewis and the other African- American employees at Home Depot, I thought I had been transported to the Deep South 50 or 100 years ago,'' Piovia-Scott said. ``My history books had come alive, and the Ku Klux Klan Ku Klux Klan (k  ' klŭks klăn), designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used was riding again. We were no longer in California in the 21st century but had regressed to a time of extreme violence, racism, hatred and oppression.'' But at the Woodland Hills store, a former colleague was skeptical of Lewis' accusations. ``Antwion -- are you kidding me?'' said Wil Pinto pinto Spotted horse, also called paint, piebald, skewbald, and other terms to describe variations in colour and markings. The American Indian ponies of the western U.S. were often pintos. Most pure-breed associations refuse to register horses with pinto colouring. , a special services representative. ``He was like the black sheep black sheep n. 1. A sheep with black fleece. 2. A member of a family or other group who is considered undesirable or disreputable. . He was sort of the troublemaker of the crew.'' brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3634 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Attorney Joshua Piovia-Scott, left, looks on Wednesday as his client, Antwion Lewis, claims that he was racially harassed when he worked for The Home Depot in Woodland Hills. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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