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Jul 17, 2019, 5:01 PM ET
American Workers Could Face Legal Jeopardy For Using Racist "Go Back to Africa" Insult
That was the insult that Ebrima Jallow said he heard repeatedly from his supervisor and fellow co-workers while working at the Walmart in Landover Hills, Maryland.
Despite his recent promotion to the position of Asset Protection Coordinator, overseeing security and theft prevention efforts at the facility, Jallow said the attacks he faced were relentless, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2013.
Jallow, a Muslim who was born in Gambia, accused his store manager and fellow co-workers of repeated instances of harassment and intimidation based on his national origin and religion.
In meetings and day-to-day interactions with fellow employees, Jallow said he was mocked for his accent and told that "all Muslims do is blow up buildings and people."
Employees also allegedly told him he should "go back to Africa."
After reporting the harassment, Jallow alleged he was retaliated against and put on a one-year "coaching period" where other employees were told not to work with him.
Following a nearly two-year court battle, Jallow was paid $75,000 in damages from Walmart, and in a settlement the company committed to providing anti-discrimination and harassment training to employees.
Some Republican leaders have rushed to President Donald Trump's defense following his use of an age-old racist trope to attack four minority Congresswomen -- saying they should "go back" to their countries of origin. And in interviews with several of Trump's supporters planning to attend his campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Wednesday, many said they took no issue with the president's comments.
"I've been saying it for years," Michael Audette, a resident from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, told ABC News.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks as Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib listen during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, July 15, 2019 in Washington,
But the insult has been referred to in numerous court cases brought by the government over the past decade as a textbook definition of illegal harassment in the workplace.
Eric Bachman, a former Department of Justice Civil Rights Division prosecutor who specializes in anti-discrimination cases, told ABC News that the president's tweets would be "as close to a slam-dunk discriminatory claim as you can get" if he had uttered them as the head of a private company rather than as chief executive of the United States.
"Frankly, if there was a board of directors, they would be taking action to fire him if he were the president of a company," Bachman said. "This would almost certainty violate Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and a host of other civil rights-related laws."
"Just his statements alone, would be really strong evidence of a hostile work environment that he treats employees who are not white differently than he would treat white employees," Bachman added.
In the days since the president's tweet, civil rights groups have pointed out the sordid history of the "go back to where you came from" racial epithet and its expansion as an insult beyond immigrant groups to anyone who may be a person of color.
"National origin discrimination involves treating people (applicants or employees) unfavorably because they are from a particular country or part of the world, because of ethnicity or accent, or because they appear to be of a certain ethnic background (even if they are not)," EEOC spokesperson Kimberly Smith-Brown said in a statement, emailed to ABC News on Wednesday.
The EEOC, which declined to comment directly on the president's tweets, is the federal entity tasked with carrying out enforcement of the nation’s workplace anti-discrimination laws.
Below are just a few examples of cases that the EEOC has pursued in the last 15 years in which alleged harassment from employees mirrored the language from the president's tweets. Except where identified, the cases primarily resulted in settlements where the companies were not compelled to admit to any wrongdoing.
Continued here
US routinely sues companies for language that mirrors Trump's racist 'go back' tweets
American Workers Could Face Legal Jeopardy For Using Racist "Go Back to Africa" Insult
That was the insult that Ebrima Jallow said he heard repeatedly from his supervisor and fellow co-workers while working at the Walmart in Landover Hills, Maryland.
Despite his recent promotion to the position of Asset Protection Coordinator, overseeing security and theft prevention efforts at the facility, Jallow said the attacks he faced were relentless, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf by the federal government's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2013.
Jallow, a Muslim who was born in Gambia, accused his store manager and fellow co-workers of repeated instances of harassment and intimidation based on his national origin and religion.
In meetings and day-to-day interactions with fellow employees, Jallow said he was mocked for his accent and told that "all Muslims do is blow up buildings and people."
Employees also allegedly told him he should "go back to Africa."
After reporting the harassment, Jallow alleged he was retaliated against and put on a one-year "coaching period" where other employees were told not to work with him.
Following a nearly two-year court battle, Jallow was paid $75,000 in damages from Walmart, and in a settlement the company committed to providing anti-discrimination and harassment training to employees.
Some Republican leaders have rushed to President Donald Trump's defense following his use of an age-old racist trope to attack four minority Congresswomen -- saying they should "go back" to their countries of origin. And in interviews with several of Trump's supporters planning to attend his campaign rally in Greenville, North Carolina, on Wednesday, many said they took no issue with the president's comments.
"I've been saying it for years," Michael Audette, a resident from Elizabeth City, North Carolina, told ABC News.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks as Reps. Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib listen during a press conference at the U.S. Capitol, July 15, 2019 in Washington,
But the insult has been referred to in numerous court cases brought by the government over the past decade as a textbook definition of illegal harassment in the workplace.
Eric Bachman, a former Department of Justice Civil Rights Division prosecutor who specializes in anti-discrimination cases, told ABC News that the president's tweets would be "as close to a slam-dunk discriminatory claim as you can get" if he had uttered them as the head of a private company rather than as chief executive of the United States.
"Frankly, if there was a board of directors, they would be taking action to fire him if he were the president of a company," Bachman said. "This would almost certainty violate Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and a host of other civil rights-related laws."
"Just his statements alone, would be really strong evidence of a hostile work environment that he treats employees who are not white differently than he would treat white employees," Bachman added.
In the days since the president's tweet, civil rights groups have pointed out the sordid history of the "go back to where you came from" racial epithet and its expansion as an insult beyond immigrant groups to anyone who may be a person of color.
"National origin discrimination involves treating people (applicants or employees) unfavorably because they are from a particular country or part of the world, because of ethnicity or accent, or because they appear to be of a certain ethnic background (even if they are not)," EEOC spokesperson Kimberly Smith-Brown said in a statement, emailed to ABC News on Wednesday.
The EEOC, which declined to comment directly on the president's tweets, is the federal entity tasked with carrying out enforcement of the nation’s workplace anti-discrimination laws.
Below are just a few examples of cases that the EEOC has pursued in the last 15 years in which alleged harassment from employees mirrored the language from the president's tweets. Except where identified, the cases primarily resulted in settlements where the companies were not compelled to admit to any wrongdoing.
Continued here
US routinely sues companies for language that mirrors Trump's racist 'go back' tweets
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