The Ohio Civil Rights Commission found repeated racial comments and acts — including nooses hung — over several years at United Parcel Service’s Maumee distribution center.
More than 20 UPS employees filed discrimination and harassment complaints, with the findings coming a year after an image of a noose circulated widely on social media.
Commission members determined there is probable cause in 25 complaints, meaning it is likely UPS engaged in unlawful discriminatory practices, according to letters of determination — the commission’s summary of the complaints — provided by the organization.
The Blade obtained a copy of the report in a public records request.
A review of complaints at the UPS center “indicates a culture of tolerance for discrimination,” the commission found.
“Documents and testimony confirm that the Toledo hub has been permeated with ongoing racially charged comments and incidents since at least 2013, and continuing into 2016 and 2017, including nooses in the workplace, displays of confederate flags, racially offensive text messages, and overtly hostile comments,” the document said.
The ensuing consent order declares administrators at the business must create an equal employment officer to train employees, establish regular sessions for staff on anti-discrimination laws, and notify the commission within 30 days of hiring any supervisor or promoting a current employee to that role.
UPS has filed for reconsideration, which means another neutral employee of the commission will again review case evidence, said Mary Turocy, a commission spokesman. The commission could not release specifically what the business is disputing with the ongoing case.
In a statement to The Blade, a company spokesman said UPS values work force diversity and does not tolerate demeaning misconduct.
“UPS disputes the cause determination by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission and will have further review with this office,” the statement read.
UPS officials told state investigators they immediately launched an investigation upon learning last July 11 of two nooses hanging in the building. An employee admitted doing so, and was fired within 24 hours.
No other employees or supervisors who were aware of what occurred faced discipline, the commission found.
It was one of several discriminatory acts workers reported at the building.
In 2013, management learned about a noose created to hang a tire. “No investigation was conducted to ascertain who hung the noose,” the commission’s ruling said.
No punishment followed when employees sent text messages referencing a hanging, when witnesses heard a worker say he was late for a Klan meeting, or when a black employee last February discovered a stuffed monkey in her work area, according to the commission.
Keith Wiggins, 62, of South Toledo, has been off work since March, but officially retired Wednesday from UPS.
He filed a complaint last July 29 of discrimination and retaliation against UPS with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission for incidents that allegedly occurred just weeks prior.
“The UPS facility in Maumee has a major problem,” Mr. Wiggins said. He had been employed with the company since 1974.
A co-worker sent him a photo of the noose hanging from inside his place of employment in July.
“I could not believe that,” he said, adding it was the third incident of a hangman noose at the company. It is unknown when the other incidents took place.
Two days after receiving the photo, Mr. Wiggins said he was driving his delivery route when a white co-worker passed him in a vehicle in an unsafe manner. The driver of the car was wearing a UPS uniform, he said.
“He’s blowing his horn and I heard him yell something regarding a hanging,” Mr. Wiggins said. “He cut me off to the point where I could have had an accident.”
The driver of the car, who has not been criminally charged, reportedly then grabbed the back of his own shirt and pulled up on it while sticking his tongue out. Mr. Wiggins took the gesture to reference a hanging.
While stopped in a UPS vehicle, Mr. Wiggins called to report his reckless driving co-worker, and he subsequently received verbal discipline from his employer for being on the phone. The co-worker was not disciplined, according to documents.
He said the public doesn’t really know what goes on behind the “shiny truck.”
“It’s been a tough battle and everyone that’s involved in the filing has been through something,” Mr. Wiggins said. “Some people will talk, others don’t like to talk about it. We had a meeting and we stress to one another and we try to keep one another strong.”
Contact Allison Reamer at: areamer@theblade.com, 419-724-6506, or on Twitter @AllisonRBlade.
First Published June 24, 2017, 4:00 a.m.
