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EEOC Investigates Discrimination Claim at Butterball

Butterball, the Garner, NC-based turkey processing company, is the target of a federal anti-discrimination lawsuit for allegedly firing an HIV-positive employee after she repeatedly reported co-workers for harassing her. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) suit alleges that Tracy Montgomery complained nearly every day to her supervisors that her colleagues mocked and humiliated her during her brief period of employment. Montgomery processed turkey parts at Butterball's Kinston plant for about five weeks in 2009. The workplace tensions boiled over when a co-worker threatened to get a gun from her car and shoot Montgomery. Butterball blamed Montgomery for causing a disruptive work environment and fired her, the suit says. "Here we have this woman who innocently goes into a job," said Lynette Barnes, an EEOC regional attorney in Charlotte, NC. "She had no idea there would be people who would pick on her." Click here to read more.
 
 



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