Imagine putting in nearly 25 years of hard work, day in and day out, only to be told, directly and indirectly, that you’ll never be promoted. That’s the situation for Lamar Johnson, a 48-year-old Black worker serving his country and community in Morgantown, West Virginia. Despite his efforts, he’s found himself stuck at the bottom of the workplace hierarchy, facing a toxic workplace where racism has been constant. Johnson has had enough of slurs, nooses, and being excluded from training opportunities.
Now, he’s decided to take legal action. This isn’t the first time he’s done so, though.
In 2020, after years of harassment and being denied promotions multiple times, Johnson settled with the city. This agreement aimed to give him a fresh start with training, performance evaluations, and fair consideration for advancement in his job.
However, the city did not admit to any wrongdoing. The deal was to fix the issues and treat Johnson better.
However, according to a new lawsuit filed by Johnson on August 8 in the Monongalia County Circuit Court, the “training” he was promised was only a quick 45-minute session on the city’s inventory and purchasing system. Despite this, his supervisors claimed he was not good enough for promotions. Soon enough, they removed the software from his computer so he couldn’t improve.
Johnson’s facing constant efforts to pull him down. He endured blatant racism, such as a colleague claiming, “It smells like n—— in here,” and the n-word carved into the workplace walls. When he tried to bring attention to these incidents, like when a noose was found in the city garage, his supervisors reportedly didn’t take it seriously, with one suggesting it might not even be racist!
It wasn’t only him facing this. Kevin Marshall, also Black, worked there for 27 years without a promotion and left after hearing slurs like “n—-r-rigging” too often. The former public works director, Alexandra Stockdale (white), confirmed Johnson’s experience.
She saw the racism happening and even sent emails to the city officials mentioning it.
“Black warehouse workers say their Latino coworkers, bosses abused them. Their accusations spurred the biggest federal racial abuse cases in California” by @latimes https://t.co/y79VFV32ru pic.twitter.com/BFGv5Mitid
— PJ 🇺🇲 (@PJenkins1931) May 13, 2023
The city’s actual workplace narrative has a clear imbalance. With approximately 330 staff members, only 10 are of African American descent. In a place like Morgantown, where the Black population constitutes around 4%, this disparity is hard to overlook.
Johnson’s legal representative, Sean Cook, shared his perspective with us, emphasizing the inadequacy of the city’s justifications. “He deserves equal training as others who are Caucasian have been afforded,” Cook asserted to the Atlanta Black Star. “To hold him back due to a supposed lack of proficiency, when they refuse to train him adequately and in good faith, is an absurd pretext.”
Johnson’s lawsuit concerns justice and the right of Black people in workplaces and beyond to be treated fairly.
He claims the town broke a promise, took revenge on him, and didn’t treat him the same as others because of the color of his skin. Johnson asks a jury of regulars to hear his story and decide if he should get money for what he’s been through and lost.
The town has until September 7 to explain its side of the story in writing. Johnson went from serving in the Marine Corps to having his spirit broken, but now he’s determined to fight so that what happened to him doesn’t happen to anyone else.
