Dr. Pepper Sued For Racially Hostile Workplace

Wouldn't you like to be a Pepper too? Not if you had to face racially offensive epithets scrawled on your locker or listen to repeated slurs by your supervisors for nothing more than the color of your skin.

That's what seven current and former employees at the Dr. Pepper and Snapple plant in Northlake allege in their lawsuit against the company (CBS 2 Chicago).

Specifically, seven African-American employees claim they were the targets of persistent racial hostility at the plant. In addition to being called "burros" by their supervisor (Spanish for donkey), they also found the words "I hate n*****s" written in black ink on their lockers in January. After it was removed, they say, it reappeared again in May.

Most of the plaintiffs named in the suit (Jermaine Benson, Aaron Gould, Kendall Green, Jr., Archie Hayes, Robin Murray, Tristan Reed and Daniel Williams) worked the night shift.

The defendant, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, claims to have resolved the issue in response to filed complaints in a statement released shortly after the suit was filed:

"When incidents such as the ones alleged in this complaint were first brought to our attention, we immediately launched a thorough investigation which resulted in various disciplinary actions, including termination of several employees."

The company also claims to have "renewed" its training policy for preventing discrimination and harassment. However, the plaintiffs claim that the two-years of taunting, exclusively by the plant's Latino workers, was ignored.

The former and current employees are seeking $1 million in damages each (Tribune), including punitive damages, in their federal lawsuit for alleged racial discrimination. It's not technically a personal injury suit, but how about intentional infliction of emotional distress?