Archer Daniel Midland shipyard was recently named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that African American employees were harassed by a company supervisor after a disagreement over whether Confederate monuments located in New Orleans should be removed. Videoed on a cell phone, the workers allege that the supervisor waved a hangman’s noose in front of the workers. The lawsuit names that supervisor, Edward Collins, as well as the company as defendants.

Plaintiffs’ Attorney Alleged Company Did Nothing to Stop the Harassment

The plaintiffs are represented by attorney Glen McGovern. McGovern stated that, “When the video was shown to the local supervisors, Edward Collins, according to witnesses walked off the job, but they called him back a couple of days later and continued to work and wasn’t isolated…”

The plaintiffs allege in their lawsuit that Archer Daniel Midland shipyard “did nothing to remedy blatant violations of its anti-discrimination policy for months…” The complaint states that the lack of action taken by Archer Daniel Midland was "creating and condoning an environment of terror."

Derrel Lewis one of the named plaintiffs who recorded the incident, which occurred on June 12, alleged that Collins lunged at him once he realized he was being recorded. According to Lewis, Collins spewed several racist remarks before swinging the noose and told him that he would invite him to dinner for "fried chicken and watermelon." Collins allegedly texted Lewis an image of three monkeys.

Archer Daniel Midland’s Issued Statement

According to McGovern, Archer Daniel Midland did not investigate the incident until after EOC complaints were filed. Archer Daniel Midland issued this statement:

“ADM has zero tolerance for hate, racism and discrimination, and does not stand for the kind of behavior alleged in this complaint. Consistent with our policies, upon learning of this incident we immediately investigated and promptly took action. As a result, we terminated the employment of the supervisor.

In addition, we promptly had all of our employees in the division undergo ethics and sensitivity training, which was incremental to the annual ethics training all of our employees undergo.

The employees in the lawsuit remain employed by ADM and we value their continued service.”