Lexington man found nooses, racist notes at work. Did employer do enough to stop it?
When Ronald Burns found a second noose hanging at a Central Kentucky factory, he’d had enough.
Burns is a Black Lexington resident who worked at Berry Global, an international plastics company with a factory in Nicholasville, according to court records. In seven months working for Berry in Nicholasville, Burns received two racist notes, one of which called him a racial slur and told him to die. He also found two nooses, one in his locker, another on his toolbox.
He quit his job at Berry due to the harassment, according to court records.
In an ongoing legal fight taken to the U.S. Court of Appeals, Berry acknowledged the incidents but insisted it’s not to blame or liable. The company won with that argument in federal district court.
The racist behavior, which began the day after he started full time with the company, terrified Burns and made his wife fearful.
“His wife worried that he would be killed,” his attorneys wrote in court records. He was losing sleep and “barricaded himself inside a locked office at work.”
Burns’ attorneys also wrote that he was diagnosed with diverticulitis. His doctor said the stress of the racial discrimination may have caused the condition.
In February 2020, Burns filed a federal lawsuit against the company, alleging it failed to adequately combat the harassment. He was left in a hostile work environment where he was repeatedly subjected to racial discrimination, he alleged. He also said company investigations into the harassment weren’t thorough. Berry wasn’t able to identify Burns’ harasser.
Burns didn’t convince a federal Lexington judge who determined Berry wasn’t responsible for the racial harassment. Judge Danny C. Reeves ruled March 9 that Berry did its best to investigate the discrimination. Reeves dismissed Burns’ claims before trial.
“As the number of incidents increased, so, too, did Berry’s efforts to root out the perpetrator,” Reeves wrote in his memorandum. “ ... Berry’s investigative efforts were sufficient, despite their lack of success.”
Burns filed an appeal on Aug. 18 with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The appeals court would determine if Reeves’ decision to dismiss was correct. The company denies that it created an unlawfully hostile work environment.
Burns seeks damages to cover lost money and “embarrassment, humiliation, pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life” and other issues, his attorneys wrote in his initial complaint.
A racist note. Video didn’t show possible perpetrators’ faces.
Burns was hired for a permanent, full-time job with Berry on Aug. 6, 2018, after working as a temporary employee, according to court records. He finished his first night shift on Aug. 7, 2018, and found a note that read “dance monkey” when he returned to his locker.
Burns notified the plant manager of the note — written on cardboard — the day he found it, according to court records.
The plant manager asked Burns if the note was slang or some sort of prank, according to court records. He also told Burns that he seemed like he’d be capable of defending himself if someone tried to fight him.
The plant manager reported the note to human resources, which started an investigation without Burns’ knowledge, his attorney said in court records.
A supervisor met with employees who were working when Burns found the note and “advised this type of harassment would not be tolerated,” according to court records.
Surveillance camera footage was reviewed to see who may have entered the men’s locker room at the factory before Burns found the note. Burns’ attorneys alleged that Burns was given conflicting statements about whether or not the footage existed.
But the footage only showed individuals from the waist down, according to court records. Efforts were made to match people by their clothing using surveillance video from other cameras. Berry later adjusted the surveillance camera to identify passersby more easily, according to court records.
A few days later, a noose.
No suspects were identified by Berry before Burns found a noose hanging from his locker after his shift on Aug. 11, 2018, according to court records.
He again alerted higher-ups. He sent a photo of the noose to a human resources employee, who later called him to get more information, according to court records.
Burns also filed a complaint with Berry’s ethics hotline, according to court records.
Burns later received an email from the company, which said, “the investigation of this matter has been completed and appropriate action has been taken. Due to the confidential nature of any investigation, findings must remain confidential and cannot be shared. Thank you for filing your report.”
A supervisor met with another set of shift employees who had access to the locker room before Burns found the noose. They were told Berry wouldn’t tolerate the harassment, according to court records.
Some Berry employees were interviewed and asked a few questions about what they saw or heard. The employees weren’t shown photos of the note and noose left in Burns’ locker, according to court records.
Berry planned to move its lockers to an area where they could be caught on a surveillance camera. Berry also planned to do a refresher training on company policies against discrimination and harassment, according to court records. Burns’ attorneys alleged in court records that the refresher training wasn’t thorough enough.
Facility supervisors were also asked to check the locker room and look for offensive items. But Burns’ attorneys alleged in their appeal that locker room inspections didn’t occur frequently enough, which allowed another incident to happen.
2nd note got more hateful
One day after Berry did harassment training, Burns found a note in his locker on Aug. 24, 2018. The writer of the note called him a racial slur and told him to die, according to court records.
Burns was upset by the note and went home for the night. He later called the police and provided a statement to an officer, according to court records.
Berry supervisors identified one employee they suspected was involved and suspended him from work, according to court records. But Burns had to walk past the accused employee as that employee was being escorted from the building. The suspected employee threatened to harm Burns.
Burns said he was scared by the altercation because the accused employee had a company-issued knife, according to court records.
Burns also indicated he didn’t think the suspended employee was actually his harasser, according to court records. The company eventually ended the employee’s suspension after deciding it didn’t have enough evidence that he was responsible.
Another noose found. Victim resigns
Several months passed before Burns found the second noose on Jan. 14, 2019. He was the on-call technician that night and was called into work, according to court records. He found a noose tightened inside a vice on his toolbox when he arrived. It was covered by a cloth.
Burns notified a supervisor at the factory at the time. Burns and the supervisor contacted management. They were instructed to take pictures and write up a report.
Berry supervisors and human resources employees again reviewed surveillance footage and interviewed employees. Again, the culprit went unidentified, according to court records. Burns left the company a few months later after finding another job.
Burns’ attorneys also alleged in the appeal that sufficient evidence existed to believe a supervisor may have been Burns’ harasser, opening the company up to liability for the continued harassment.
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 10:32 AM.