The Rocky Mountain News has agreed to pay $375,000 to settle accusations it failed to stop the harassment of black printing-plant employees.
In a statement, editor and publisher John Temple said the News denies any wrongdoing.
“It was never demonstrated that a racially hostile environment existed in the printing facility,” he said.
A white pressman, who has since retired, regularly peppered African-American workers at the News’ Adams County plant with racial slurs, according to the lawsuit that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed against the newspaper in 2003.
Managers were frequently present when the employees were insulted during 1999 and 2000 but took no action, according to the suit.
One of the black pressmen, Abdur-Rahim Ali, complained to the commission about the alleged harassment, and the commission filed suit in U.S. District Court in Denver.
In his statement, Temple said: “The former employee who instituted the original claim was fired for sabotaging a printing press. His dismissal was upheld by an arbitrator. Further, the employee never alleged any discrimination by the News until after his firing, nor did the union that represents the pressroom employees.”
Ali and nine other black employees who worked in the pressroom during the period will split the award, said Joseph H. Mitchell, EEOC regional attorney. Ali didn’t immediately return a phone call.
The News, owned by E.W. Scripps Co., has had a joint operating agreement with The Denver Post, owned by ap Inc., since 2001.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
