BELLEVILLE - A group of African American employees have filed racial discrimination lawsuits against Empire Comfort Systems over a child’s controversial drawing in a 2019 company calendar, which sparked Black Lives Matter protests in June 2020.
Plaintiffs Jeffrey Dixon, Danny Fenton, Iesha Dixon, Sherman Ferguson, Chandarles Emerson Sr., Julian Johnson, Michael King, Reginald Dixon Sr., Shavyon Jackson-Williams and Earl Owens filed separate complaints in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Empire Comfort Systems Inc. They allege violations of the Illinois Human Rights Act.
The complaints were filed through attorney Benedict Song of Chatham & Baricevic in Bellville.
A video of the protestors was included in the Belleville News Democrat article referenced in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs, who are all African American employees of Empire Comfort Systems, claim they were subjected to “overtly hostile racist acts which were done on multiple occasions by white employees of Empire.” They add that Empire “was aware of the problem of white employees engaging in racist behavior which included drawing swastikas and negative images of African-American men.”
The plaintiffs claim the allegations of discrimination were exemplified in a June 2020 Belleville News Democrat article, which included statements from Empire representatives stating that “it would be ‘disingenuous’ for Empire to claim that it had never ‘had problems with race or sex discrimination.’”
The suit states that African American employees at Empire received press attention “over the fact that they believed there had been ongoing racial harassment and discrimination and that Empire had turned a blind eye to it.” They claim they were treated differently by their supervisors compared to other Caucasian employees who had the same job titles as the plaintiffs.
According to the Belleville News Democrat article referenced in the lawsuit, Empire employees claimed a safety drawing included in a 2019 company calendar was meant to be racist. The drawing at issue includes a person wearing a solid red baseball cap driving a forklift. The forklift is seen impaling a stick figure that is colored black. The drawing reads, “Caution. Watch for forklifts.”
Empire President Nick Bauer later sent a letter to Empire employees in Belleville explaining that the company invited employees’ children between the ages of five and 12 to submit artwork for the 2019 safety-themed calendar. He said 13 drawings were submitted, so they added January 2020 to the calendar to accommodate all of the drawings. The drawing at issue resembles a safety sign sold at MySafetySign.com.
Employee and plaintiff JD Dixon wrote in a June 8, 2020, Twitter post, “A black man being ran in by a white driving a fork lift (sic) with a Trump had on is no where (sic) close to being a joke!”
In response, employees and members of the community held a Black Lives Matter protest on June 19, 2020, by walking down Belleville streets.
In their lawsuit, they claim Empire was aware of the alleged racist drawings and actions but failed to take action to remediate these issues.
“Empire, by its own admission, acknowledges that it has issues with racial discrimination,” the suits state.
The plaintiffs claim Empire’s actions “created a hostile work environment as the disparate treatment was carried out by, and with the knowledge of” the plaintiffs’ direct supervisors.
As a result, the plaintiffs allege they suffered severe emotional distress, lost wages and benefits, suffered mental anguish, depression and loss of enjoyment of a normal life.
They seek a judgment in excess of $50,000, plus court costs and attorney’s fees.
Empire Comfort Systems maintains several factories in St. Clair County and manufactures heaters, fireplaces and accompanying accessories, according to its website. The plaintiffs allegedly worked various shifts at various Empire facilities.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case numbers 22-LA-463, 462, 461, 460, 459, 458, 457, 456, 455, and 454