Cargill Facing Class Action Discrimination Suit 32410

Cargill Facing Class Action Discrimination Suit

MINNEAPOLIS--Cargill Inc. (www.cargill.com)is denying allegations made in a class action lawsuit filed Nov. 15 that thecompany systematically discriminated against its black employees. The lawsuit,filed by Sprenger & Lang on behalf of 25 current and former black Cargillemployees, alleges that Cargill systematically discriminated against all of itsblack salaried employees in advancement, compensation and termination.

"Cargill does not have systems that discriminate, we don't have policiesthat discriminate and we don't have a culture that discriminates," RobertLumpkins, Cargill's vice chairman, said in a written statement issued by thecompany. "These cases reflect a wide variety of circumstances and show nodiscrimination."

Cargill has faced similar allegations in the past, settling for $1.2 millionin a 1984 class-action discrimination suit brought by the U.S. Equal EmploymentOpportunity Commission (EEOC) on behalf of four black ex-employees of Cargill.The company did not admit wrong in the case, but did operate for five yearsunder a consent decree setting goals for hiring and promoting women and blacks.Nancy Siska, Cargill's corporate vice president of human resources, stated thatstatements made by the plaintiffs regarding the EEOC settlement are"distorted." "The case was not a contested, litigatedmatter," she said. "Rather, it involved a voluntary settlement, whichCargill embraced. Cargill did not stop with the actions of the Fostersettlement, but instead is committed to continuing improvement for all itsemployees."

Lawrence Schaefer, lead counsel for the plaintiffs and a partner at Sprenger& Lang, was involved in the 1984 case. "The first case was mostly aboutgetting these employees a foot in the door at Cargill," Schaefer said."This case is about getting a seat at the table and ensuring that realchanges endure." The suit, Arnold et al. v. Cargill Inc., was filed in theU.S. Federal Court for the District of Minnesota. Sprenger & Langestablished a Web site with information about the case at www.cargillcase.com.