Campbell Soup Sued for Racial and Age Discrimination
A lawsuit filed in federal court on June 26, 2009 charges the Campbell Soup Company with racial discrimination in that the company routinely promoted less qualified white account executives over its black employees. The class action, filed in Camden, N.J., charges that Campbell Soup Co.’s white managers discriminated in promotions while using a secret method in which job openings were not posted and objective criteria were not used to assess applicants.
The named plaintiff, Chester Hicks, is a fifty-eight year old black man who has worked for Campbell’s in Houston as a territory manager for twenty-four years. The suit alleges that, despite a long history of awards, he has been unable to advance beyond his entry-level job. The class action seeks to represent all black employees holding salaried positions at Campbell’s in the United States after July 7, 2003.
The suit claims that Campbell’s discriminated due to race, as prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and 42 U.S.C sec, 1981. The suit further alleges that Hicks was denied promotions due to age discrimination in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).
In January 2004, Hicks lodged a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In August 2006, the EEOC determined that there was probable cause that Campbell’s had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by failing to promote Hicks due to racial discrimination. The EEOC failed to mediate the matter and issued a right-to-sue letter on April 2, 2009, which gave Hicks 90 days to file suit.
