Minnesota transportation company accused of discriminating against employee agrees to settlement

The Minnesota Department of Human Rights says it has secured a settlement agreement with a transportation company accused of discriminating against and firing an employee because of their race and the country they are from.

According to the state agency, which cited an investigation, the company between April 2022 and July 2022 fostered a hostile work environment where the employee was "repeatedly insulted by a coworker with racist stereotypes and harmful tropes about the employee's accent and his country of origin."

The employee reported the harassment to his supervisor, who "failed" to look into or address the harassment, the state agency said. The company instead continued to schedule the employee with the harassing coworker. 

Officials said the employee was then fired by the company, which cited performance issues for the move. According to the state agency, the company didn't have evidence to back up the claims.

"Based on the evidence, the Department of Human Rights concluded that the company violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by allowing discrimination to occur and terminating the employee because of his race and national origin," the state agency said.

As part of the settlement, the company is required to pay the former employee $180,000, strengthen its protocols on anti-harassment training and reporting, and log and share employee discrimination complaints with the state agency, officials said.

"Immigrant communities are confronting cruel and dehumanizing treatment, and while we cannot stop every act of racism and xenophobia, we will use every tool available under state law to hold businesses accountable and protect fundamental civil rights for Minnesotans," Rebecca Lucero, Minnesota Department of Human Rights commissioner, said. 

The state agency said it's not naming the company or charging party in the settlement "to protect the identity of the person who was discriminated against during a time of heightened threats to immigrants."