Truck drivers claim racial discrimination in suit against Giant Eagle's distribution center - TribLIVE

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A federal race discrimination lawsuit filed Thursday against Giant Eagle’s OK Grocery Company contends that Black truck drivers were subjected to racial epithets and harassment by their white counterparts with no repercussions.

The plaintiffs, Ulysses Robinson, Anthony Hill, Davone Grayson and Showayne Samuels, were all terminated by the company between 2018 and April 2020. They worked at OK Grocery Company, on Beechnut Drive in Pittsburgh, which serves as Giant Eagle’s distribution center, the lawsuit said.

OK Grocery Company is owned by Giant Eagle and serves as its distribution center

According to the complaint, the center in the city’s Fairywood neighborhood employed about 200 truck drivers. Of those, approximately two dozen were Black.

The lawsuit alleges that the company followed a practice of disproportionately disciplining its Black drivers for alleged misconduct but not taking the same action against their white drivers.

Dick Roberts, a Giant Eagle spokesperson, said company officials are aware of the lawsuit and are actively reviewing it.

“At Giant Eagle, we are committed to an inclusive and diverse culture where all team members and guests are treated fairly and equitably,” he said.

According to the complaint, Giant Eagle recently terminated five of its Black drivers, while it fired less than five of the 175 white drivers that are employed there.

The lawsuit includes allegations that white truck drivers used racial epithets at work, and that the company was on notice but failed to take “any and/or adequate” disciplinary action.

In one instance, the complaint said, a Black woman truck driver reported to human resources that a white driver said, “‘Black lives do not matter around here.’”

The HR person, the lawsuit said, told the woman that “no action would be taken because statements like that are made all the time within the workplace.”

In another instance, the lawsuit said, a white driver called a Black driver a “‘big fat dirty ’N.’”

“[T]he Caucasian truck driver was not subject to any serious discipline, and his employment was not terminated,” the lawsuit said.

On a separate occasion, it continued, a white driver once used his vehicle to block a Black driver from entering the parking lot and then spit in the driver’s face. Instead of just disciplining the white driver, both people were temporarily removed from the work schedule, the complaint said.

All four plaintiffs in the lawsuit say they were improperly terminated by the company.

Robinson, the lawsuit said, began working for Giant Eagle in 2001, while Hill began working there in 2005.

They both were fired on April 4 after a verbal altercation occurred between a white driver and Hill, the complaint said.

According to the lawsuit, a white driver was trying to provoke a fight that day with Hill and said to him, “’you think you’re a tough guy.’”

Robinson, who was a committeeman for the drivers’ Teamsters union and had just finished his shift, intervened and stopped the argument, the complaint said.

He then reported it to the union steward and went home for the day.

Hill, whose shift was just starting, left to commence his route.

“Without interviewing Mr. Robinson or Mr. Hill, and disregarding video evidence that showed that neither Robinson or Hill had engaged in wrongdoing, ‘Giant Eagle’ removed both Robinson and Hill from the schedule, and within days terminated their employment,” the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs allege that no disciplinary action was taken against the white driver, who they claim had a history of complaints for fighting with other drivers.

In Samuels’ case, he claims he was fired in August 2018 for allegedly operating a refrigerator trailer after it had been damaged in a minor accident in a parking lot — despite being given permission from his white supervisors to drive it again.

Grayson worked for the company from 2013 through Nov. 12, 2019, and alleges that he was terminated for his involvement in a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 80.

The lawsuit said that other white drivers involved in similar accidents were not fired.

The lawsuit comes three months after Giant Eagle announced it was taking steps “to stand up against racism and social injustice.”

In June, the company announced it was donating $350,000 to support social justice causes and that it would close its stores for an hour to discuss racial issues and would halt advertising in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette after allegations of unfair treatment were made by a Black reporter against management there.

Giant Eagle president and CEO Laura Shapira Karet wrote in a Facebook post at the time: “We at Giant Eagle have taken time to self-reflect on what we as individuals and as an organization must do to stand up against racism and social injustice. Words are important, but they are not nearly enough. The time for action is now.”

Paula Reed Ward is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Paula by email at pward@triblive.com or via Twitter .

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