Four Black Men Sue Upstate New York Construction Firm Claiming White Supervisors Made Them Clean Up After Raunchy Party, Fired Those Who Complained, and Other Discriminatory Acts

A group of Black construction workers has filed a complaint against an upstate New York-based commercial and multifamily development, property management, and construction firm, claiming supervisors violated their civil rights during their employment. While many of the charges include allegations of racial bias, one male plaintiff alleges he was sexually harassed while asking for a raise. Construction workers attend a ceremony to mark the competition of a new building in midtown, September 15, 2022 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images) According to a lawsuit, filed on Thursday, Nov. 10 and obtained by Atlanta Black Star, Joseph Sherman, Shakeem Taylor, Tony Gentry, and Abdullah McPherson all believe supervisors at Redburn Property Services, used race to taunt and demean them on the job. The plaintiffs also claim to have been terminated at the top of 2022 for speaking out to human resources against the alleged continuous and systemic discrimination at worksites in and around the Albany area. Lawyers said the employers (and supervisors empowered by the owners) broke the law not only through practicing race-based discrimination but because the defendants retaliated against them. Names in the lawsuit are supervisors Erik Smith, Chris Colwell, Justin Kramer,...