A U.S. federal agency is suing Exxon after 5 nooses were found at a Louisiana complex

By Giulia Heyward, NPR

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency, said it was suing ExxonMobil after several nooses were discovered at the company’s complex in Baton Rouge, La.

The EEOC said ExxonMobil failed to take action after a Black employee discovered a noose at his work station at the chemical plant in January 2020. At the time, it was the fourth noose uncovered at the Baton Rouge site — and a fifth was found at the end of that year.

ExxonMobil allegedly “investigated some, but not all, of the prior incidents and failed to take measures reasonably calculated to end the harassment” which resulted in “a racially hostile work environment,” according to the EEOC’s statement on Thursday. ExxonMobil’s lack of action, the federal agency alleges, was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“A noose is a longstanding symbol of violence associated with the lynching of African Americans,” Elizabeth Owen, a senior trial attorney for the EEOC’s New Orleans office, said in the statement. “Such symbols are inherently threatening and significantly alter the workplace environment for Black Americans.”

“Even isolated displays of racially threatening symbols are unacceptable in American workplaces,” Michael Kirkland, director of the EEOC’s New Orleans field office, added.

NPR has more details.

Nooses evoke thoughts of lynching. Our memorial to lynching victims is located here.

Check out more Black culture news.