Tennessee Firm Exposed Black Workers to More Radioactive Waste than Whites

[The Straight Story]

Tennessee Firm Exposed Black Workers to More Radioactive Waste than Whites
Thursday, January 28, 2010

Perhaps it didn’t come as a surprise to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) that a company whose name spelled the acronym RACE would have racially discriminated while handing out dangerous jobs involving radioactive materials. Radiological Assistance, Consulting and Engineering (RACE), a Memphis, Tennessee-based company that processes radioactive waste from hospitals, laboratories and nuclear power plants, was sued by the EEOC for exposing its African-American workers to higher levels of radiation than its white employees.

According to federal officials, RACE managers assigned black workers to areas with radioactive waste, while white employees worked elsewhere, and it manipulated equipment used to measure radiation exposure in order to hide the actual levels that black workers received. In addition, African-American employees were subjected to racist comments by white supervisors, including being called “boy” and “nigger.”

RACE, which is now owned by Swedish waste processor Studsvik, agreed to pay $650,000 to settle the case with the EEOC.

http://www.allgov.com/ViewNews/Tennessee_Firm_Exposed_Black_Workers_to_More_Radioactive_Waste_than_Whites_100128