Federal employee suffered racial harassment according to EEOC. Complainant filed an appeal with the Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in response to the Agency’s Final Decision concerning his EEO complaint alleging employment discrimination in violation of the Civil Rights Act and the Rehabilitation Act. On appeal, the EEOC’s Office of Federal Operations (OFO) had to determine if the Complainant was subjected to additional harassment because the Agency failed to take prompt and effective action after reporting harassing behavior. The OFO held that the Complainant, as the only Black plumber at the facility where he worked, was subjected to a hostile work environment based on race when coworkers tampered with his toolbox and left notes in it saying that Black people did not have the skill sets to be plumbers, attempted to restrain him to a chair with a metal clamp, referred to him as a goat, and duct-taped him to a chair. The OFO further held that the Agency was liable for said harassment because it did not take immediate and appropriate corrective action after Complainant reported the first, toolbox incident and therefore caused Complainant to be subjected to further harassment.
Stanton S. v. Dep’t of Veterans Affairs, EEOC Appeal No. 0120170582 (Apr. 16, 2019) https://www.eeoc.gov/sites/default/files/migrated_files/decisions/0120170582.pdf