-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email General Mills — the multinational manufacturer of several notable cereal brands — has been sued by eight Black employees who say they faced race-based discrimination at the hands of white managers in one of the company’s Georgia-based plants. The class-action complaint was filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on June 2. The plaintiffs include Gary Davis, Joe Davis, Devahn Jefferson, Keith McClinton, Donald Outlaw, E.J.
Rivers and Naaman Smith, who filed individually and on behalf of all other workers who were under similar circumstances at the manufacturing plant located in Covington, Ga. The plaintiffs are current and former employees of General Mills who either work, or have worked, at the plant during the last four years. In the federal lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that General Mills and its managers violated the Civil Rights Act of 1866 along with the Georgia and Federal RICO Acts .
The suit states that both the company and its managers favor white employees over Black employees, explaining that the former are awarded more promotional opportunities while the latter face more disciplinary actions. The plaintiffs claim that the plant itself is controlled by a group of “male white supremacists operating in management and HR,” who collectively refer to themselves as the “Good Ole Boys.” Related Ozempic, Big Food and why eating intuitively is easier said than done “The ‘Good Ole Boys�.
