St. Louis – The federal government Wednesday sued Walgreen Co., alleging widespread racial bias against thousands of black workers throughout the nation’s largest drugstore chain.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleged in a class-action lawsuit that Walgreens, based in Deerfield, Ill., makes decisions about employee assignments and promotions based on race.
Most of the complaints that led to the lawsuit, filed in U.S.District Court in East St. Louis, Ill., came from employees and former employees in St. Louis, Detroit and Tampa, Fla.
But EEOC officials in St. Louis said they have found evidence of the same trend around the country.
Walgreens released a statement saying it is committed to “fairness, diversity and opportunity” and that it was “saddened and disappointed” by the EEOC action.
Walgreen is the nation’s largest drugstore chain by sales. It had sales of $47.4 billion in the 2006 fiscal year.
