The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing the Albertsons grocery-store chain for alleged racial and ethnic harassment at an Aurora distribution center.
The proposed class-action lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Denver on Friday, alleges that the harassment took place against black and Latino workers at the distribution center over the course of 10 years.
The EEOC is seeking monetary damages yet to be determined.
Albertsons failed to respond to countless drawings and racial slurs on bathroom fixtures, walls and warehouse racks at the center, along with drawings of “black and Hispanic individuals with ropes around their necks,” according to the filing.
Black and Latino workers also were called derogatory names and were given less desirable jobs than their colleagues, according to the EEOC.
“It is Albertsons LLC’s policy not to comment on pending litigation, therefore the company will not specifically address the allegations made by the EEOC,” said a written statement. “The company provides ongoing training to its associates to ensure that everyone who comes in contact with our business is treated with courtesy, dignity and respect and in accordance with the law.”
EEOC lawyers tried to negotiate a settlement with Albertsons before filing the lawsuit, said Kim Rogers, the trial lawyer in the case.
“I don’t know one way or the other what to expect,” Rogers said. “We go into it with the expectation that it may end up going in front of a jury.”
Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons was purchased in June by a consortium that includes SuperValu, a publicly traded supermarket chain based in Eden Prairie, Minn., for $17.4 billion. The grocery-store chain is expected to close 16 of its 58 Colorado locations as a result of the sale.
The company has $40.4 billion in revenue, according to an April Fortune 500 list.
Albertsons settled an individual lawsuit with one distribution-center employee, Matthew Ricks, this year over charges of physical and verbal harassment by a supervisor.
Terms of that settlement were not disclosed.
Ricks was “well compensated” by Albertsons in the settlement, said Alvertis Simmons, an activist who called himself a community liaison involved in the negotiations. As part of that settlement, Simmons and Associates also will do sensitivity training at stores, support nonprofit groups in the community, and help black and Latino workers get management jobs at Albertsons, Simmons said of his company.
Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, who advised Simmons in negotiations with Albertsons executives in February, said he was not surprised about the EEOC action.
“It’s very appropriate, since Albertsons did not settle,” said Webb, president of Webb Group International.
Staff writer Beth Potter can be reached at 303-820-1503 or bpotter@denverpost.com.
