Racial discrimination lawsuit against Facebook

The two black employees - Robert Baron Duffy, a former employee, and Robert Louis Gary, a current employee -- alleged that a facility manager used "racial slurs

New York, Nov 24: Facebook has been slapped with a racial discrimination lawsuit for allegedly not responding to the repeated complaints of harassment by two black employees, said a report.

"The suit, filed on Tuesday in US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleges Facebook allowed "retaliation against the employees reporting discrimination to fester and continue" at the facility despite their continued complaints," CNET reported on Thursday, adding, "The complaint asks for more than $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages per plaintiff."

The two black employees - Robert Baron Duffy, a former employee, and Robert Louis Gary, a current employee -- alleged that a facility manager used "racial slurs when referring to black employees." It has also been alleged that they were being paid lesser than other employees.

"Facebook didn't respond properly to alleged discrimination at the North Carolina facility, which the plaintiffs say took place over a three-year period," said Sonya Smallets, a lawyer at San Francisco-based Minnis & Smallets who is representing Duffy and Gary.

However the Facebook has termed these complaints as "claims without merit" and said they have "investigated and taken quick action to terminate (the manager's) employment and provided extensive anti-bias, anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training to all data center employees nationwide.

"Additionally, we've continued to monitor the work environment at [the North Carolina facility], and all US data centers, to ensure that improper behavior...is not repeated," the report quoted Facebook.

IANS