Discrimination Suit Filed Against Ford

Ford Motor Co. failed to punish a white worker who discussed lynching in front of black co-workers, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a discrimination lawsuit against the auto maker.

The white employee’s comment in 1999 that it was a “good day for a lynching,” as well as the hanging of a noose and offensive use of black slang, are cited in the lawsuit as examples of a hostile workplace for black workers at Ford’s New Model Program Development Center in the Detroit suburb of Allen Park, Mich.

Ford has agreed to a tentative settlement of the suit, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages for Rosemary Mazon and about 20 other black employees at the facility where prototype vehicles are made. The EEOC lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Detroit, also asks a court to order Ford to implement new disciplinary measures and provide diversity training.

Ford settled separately with Mazon on Friday for an undisclosed amount, company spokeswoman Anne Marie Gattari said.

Mazon and the white employee accused of making the remark still are hourly workers at the plant, which employs about 500, Gattari said.