DALLAS, Dec. 24 (UPI) — Hillshire Brands Co. will pay $4 million to settle a race discrimination suit at a former Texas manufacturing facility of its Sara Lee brand, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced.
The company, formerly known as Sara Lee Corp., was sued by 74 African American employees of the Paris, Texas, facility who claimed they were subjected to racist graffiti and a hostile work environment, berated by supervisors and co-workers with racial slurs, and had their complaints ignored by management.
“EEOC determined racial slurs and graffiti continued at the facility in Paris for years, until the doors finally closed in November 2011,” said Meaghan L. Shepard, Dallas EEOC district attorney.
The consent decree settling the case includes an injunction in which Hillshire Brands agreed to conduct preventative approaches regarding harassment and discrimination, as well as anti-discrimination training.
