The Georgia plant where General Mills produces cereal and trail mixes is run by a “Good Ole Boy” network of white men who have spent decades unfairly degrading and hurling racial slurs at black workers, eight current and former employees allege in a federal lawsuit filed. week
The class-action lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta, accused General Mills of violating federal civil rights laws, as well as state and federal racketeering laws.
Specifically, the plaintiffs accuse white supervisors at the Covington plant of numerous racist acts allegedly committed over two decades and intended to punish and intimidate black employees. That includes an alleged incident in 1993 in which a noose was left on a black employee's desk, the suit claims. In another, according to the complaint, the word “coon” was allegedly written on a work form used by one of the plaintiffs.
“In the 1990s, white employees, without fear of repercussions from management or HR, openly used the N-word and other racial slurs and attempted to intimidate black employees with racial hostility,” the alleges demand
General Mills' top managers never reprimanded supervisors for their racist behavior, the suit claims.
“HR routinely informs racist white supervisors of the content of complaints against them along with the identity of the black employees who filed the complaint,” the complaint states. “This often results in retaliation against black employees.”
The Covington plant, which General Mills opened in 1988, makes Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs and Trix cereals.
General Mills declined to comment on the litigation. “General Mills has a long-standing and ongoing commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” the company said in a statement.
Georgia attorney Douglas Dean, who represents the black employees, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Recent cases of alleged racial discrimination in the workplace have resulted in large legal settlements. In 2023, for example, the Equinox fitness chain accepted an $11.2 million settlement after a black former employee in New York accused a white coworker of refusing to accept her as their boss.
Also last year, a federal jury awarded $3.2 million in damages to a former black worker at a Tesla factory in California who had alleged rampant racial discrimination at the facility.
