Eleven African American current and former employees of Compass Group, PLC, Compass Group North America and Flik International Corp. (collectively, "Compass" or the "Company") have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Compass, the largest food services provider in the world, alleging race discrimination, harassment and unlawful retaliation.
The Complaint alleges that the Plaintiffs were repeatedly subjected to ugly and vile racial slurs, such as the "N-word," "Gorilla," "Monkey" and "Chim Chim" by their White supervisors and managers. Additionally, the Company permits only its White employees to work out front in the presence of guests during private catering functions, and even brings in White workers from other facilities to staff these events, while African American workers are forced to work in the back by the kitchen or are excluded from staffing these events entirely, including the July 2008 Democratic Governor's Association Event, which took place at the Comcast Center and was attended by Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell and Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter.
Furthermore, the suit alleges that the Company has unfairly disciplined and unlawfully terminated many of its African American employees, including the Plaintiffs, because of their race and/or color and complaints of discrimination, and replaced them with White workers.
