Workers Sue Lockheed, Charging Bias

Lockheed Martin Corp. employees who have accused the company of racial discrimination on the job filed two lawsuits in federal court Wednesday seeking damages for their suffering.

The plaintiffs, who include former and current employees of the largest U.S. defense contractor and are represented by Johnnie Cochran Jr., among others, claim that they were harassed and passed over for promotions.

Accounts of “tickets back to Africa” and Ku Klux Klan literature being passed around the workplace are among the allegations in the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Atlanta against the company and the employees’ union. “African Americans are forced to listen to racial slurs, are excluded from full participation in the workplace, are treated with disrespect, unnecessarily monitored and are exposed to other intimidating tactics. Because the supervisors tacitly or openly approve of such treatment, there is little that can be done by an individual African American to escape such harassment,” the suit said.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

Executives of Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin have said they are investigating some of the accusations, which also were included in complaints filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Although the lawsuits stem from accusations of bias at a suburban Atlanta military aircraft factory, the suits also allege discrimination throughout the company.

“We have bent over backwards to resolve these issues,” said Sam Grizzle, a Lockheed spokesman.