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Former HR director Claims that Racist graffiti was common at Austal USA

Written by al.com Press Register Wednesday, 11 January 2012 12:44

austal11-2011 MOBILE, Alabama— Attorneys for a former Austal USA employee this afternoon read part of the deposition of a past human resources manager to support the plaintiff’s allegations that the shipyard tolerated a racially hostile workplace.

Beverly Thomas is seeking unspecified monetary damages at this week’s trial in federal court.

Jeff O’Dell, who was the human resources manager from March 2007 to January 2009, was not available to testify. So attorneys used the sworn testimony he gave at an earlier deposition. Asked when he learned about racist graffiti, O’Dell said, “When didn’t I learn about it? I mean, it was always a problem. ... It’s a very rough place to work.”

O’Dell testified that he would have offensive graffiti removed as soon as he found out about it, according to the deposition.

Attorneys for the company pointed to parts of the deposition that bolstered their case, including statements by O’Dell that he was not convinced that black employees were not making the graffiti, themselves, in some instances.

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Author of this article: al.com Press Register

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