Alleged racial harassment and retaliation at a Texas work site has led to lawsuit filed against two oilfield services companies by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.
The EEOC says Bermuda-based oilfield services companies Nabors Industries Ltd. and C&J Energy Services Ltd. violated federal law through widespread racial harassment of African-American employees and punishing those who complained about the abuse at a site in Pleasanton, Texas.
According to EEOC’s lawsuit, Nabors racially harassed black employees assigned to fracking and coiled tubing oilfield service operations in Pleasanton, Texas, since at least 2012.
The EEOC’s lawsuit describes employees and managers hurling racial epithets towards African-American employees at work, including a company meeting attended by the district manager, where an employee referred to an African-American supervisor with the N-word.
After yet another hostile incident, the African-American supervisor reported the treatment to management, but was terminated while the offending employees were retained. The lawsuit also names other workers who were retaliated against for opposing discrimination, including an employee who brought the matter directly to an executive vice president of the company.
Additionally, white employees were given preference based on race over black employees in duties, compensation and job assignments, EEOC said. The lawsuit further charges that employees who reported discrimination to Nabors management and who cooperated with EEOC’s investigation were subjected to reprisal actions which sometimes led to firing.
The agency’s lawsuit also named C&J Energy Services as a defendant for its successor role in business operations.
EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division (EEOC v. C&J Energy Services, Inc. d/b/a Nabors Industries, Ltd., Civil Action No. 05:16-CV-758-FB) after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. EEOC seeks damages for past and future pecuniary losses, past and future non-pecuniary losses, compensatory damages and punitive damages as well as injunctive relief.
Source: EEOC
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