John Deere worker was dubbed ‘the angry Black man’ and racially harassed, lawsuit says
An employee who has worked at John Deere for 12 years is suing after he says his supervisors and coworkers have continued to racially harass him since his first day of work.
Johnnie Hogan started his employment with John Deere in September 2010, when on day one, he was called a racial slur, according to the lawsuit filed June 29 in the Iowa District Court for Polk County.
Since then, his attorney argues “John Deere has allowed a culture of racism to flourish and thrive within the Des Moines Works facility.”
Hogan tried to ignore the racial harassment for years, the complaint says, but in 2019, one of his coworkers dubbed him “the angry Black man” — a nickname that many began to use when referring to him.
This included one of his supervisors, who in January 2020, announced “the angry Black man is here” at a morning meeting, according to the lawsuit.
“We cannot comment on pending litigation,” a John Deere spokesperson said in a statement to McClatchy News. “Workplace discrimination and harassment have no place at John Deere and the allegations do not reflect our principles and expectations of our employees.”
In another example, the lawsuit says coworkers of Hogan “joked” about him eating fried chicken over one of his lunch breaks in late January 2020. And in February, one of those same coworkers asked the man if he was ever employed in the cotton industry.
When Hogan answered yes, the employee said “it’s good you and your ancestors have something in common,” according to the complaint.
Another coworker asked Hogan “to teach him how to make cornbread because his ‘wife really likes Black people cornbread,’” the lawsuit states.
“The types of racist comments listed above occurred on a daily basis and (Hogan) always made it known that these comments were unwelcome and unacceptable in the workplace,” attorney Roxanne Conlin wrote.
Hogan made a complaint to one of the company’s civil rights liaisons through the John Deere compliance hotline in November 2020, but he says no changes were made.
Threats continued into December, including a supervisor saying Hogan “needed to be chained to a dock” and another worker saying he left Hogans’ children in a pool to drown, the lawsuit states.
Hogan transferred to a new department in 2021, but Conlin says “he was met with more racism and bigotry.” There, he was referred to as a “boy” and coworkers talked to him as though he was enslaved.
In March 2021, Hogan made another complaint to the hotline, the lawsuit states. This time, a supervisor was fired.
The lawsuit alleges other coworkers and supervisors began avoiding him.
That same month, Hogan says he filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission. Since then, the lawsuit says supervisors began to “over-supervise” and harass him over small things, including time spent in the bathroom.
Hogan alleges he continued to be yelled at, singled out and discriminated against into 2022.
He filed a second complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission in March, according to the lawsuit. Both times, the commission granted him a “Right to Sue Letter.”
Hogan “is constantly worried about what will happen next and is walking on eggshells to avoid angering his supervisors who are always watching him,” Conlin said in the complaint.
On May 19, she says he was given permission to take short-term disability leave “as a result of the mental distress and emotional distress he suffered because of the discrimination and harassment he has endured.”
Now, he seeks a jury trial and compensatory damages. Hogan also asks the court to order relief that would prevent John Deere from discriminatory practices moving forward.
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