Former Employee Alleges Discrimination, 'White Only' Clubhouse At Solar Energy Company

Source: Think Progress

A Black man says he suffered ongoing racial discrimination for months. A Black man has filed a lawsuit against his former employer, a national solar company, saying he faced racial harassment and that a direct manager built a “White Only” clubhouse inside one of the company’s warehouses.

Teshawn Solomon, 36, says that during his time working in Natomas, California for Utah-based Vivint Solar, he experienced ongoing and persistent incidents of racially-based harassment, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in the California Superior Court based in Sacramento County. Solomon worked for the company for nearly a year before resigning.

While working for the company, which specializes in solar energy systems, Solomon claims he was told to “reach his black hands out” while a Sacramento-based supervisor handed him a box, in addition to being taunted with a banana. The fruit has historically been used to specifically mock and target Black people.

In one of the more jarring incidents, Soloman says his white coworkers built a cardboard “clubhouse” of sorts around their desks. They reportedly spray-painted the makeshift division with a “White Only” sign that, according to the Washington Post, remained there for two weeks. “I was terrified,” Soloman told the Post. “The only other African American employee was usually at other warehouses, so I was alone, at night, looking over my shoulder, wondering what else could happen to me.”...more..


Read more: https://thinkprogress.org/whites-only-solar-discrimination-lawsuit-84efbf1d9ab3/