Alabama auto plant boss forced Black workers to call him 'Master': lawsuit

On Friday, Alabama News Network reported that five assembly workers at a Hyundai auto plant in Montgomery, Alabama are suing, alleging a culture of racial discrimination — including one manager who used slave terminology.

"Frederick Coleman, Edward Daniels, Jason Ingram, Stacy Trimble and Jimmy Williams, all Black males, are represented by attorneys Artur Davis and Ivey Best," said the report. "Their lawsuit says that despite making up 85% of the workforce on the assembly lines at Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, qualified Black candidates are denied promotions and workers who complain about discrimination are punished with bogus writeups and told their jobs are in jeopardy. They allege that there is blatant racism on the assembly plant floor including one instance where a group of Black employees were told a white manager was their 'master.'"

Scott Posey, the public relations manager for the plant, did not speak directly to the case but disputed there is a discriminatory culture at the facility.

“Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama does not comment on the details of pending litigation," he said. "HMMA provides a workplace free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, uniformed service member status or any other status protected by federal, state or local law.”

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This comes after a number of other allegations about discrimination and mistreatment of Black workers at auto plants under various brands around the country.

A few years ago, General Motors was sued by Black employees who alleged that the company was doing nothing about racist abuse, including one Black employee who said he was routinely subject to racial slurs and found a noose at his work station, and Nazi swastikas painted and scratched on restroom stalls.

More recently, the state of California sued Tesla over allegations that their factory in San Francisco "racially segregated" its workplace, subjected Black employees to racial slurs, and denied them promotions.