An Indiana nursing home kept black employees out of some rooms to avoid offending racist residents, because they only want to be treated by white care attendants.
The nursing home is accused of employing racially discriminatory practices — including barring black workers from entering certain patients’ rooms.
The Indianapolis Star reports that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is suing the The Village at Hamilton Pointe in Evansville, Indiana for racist policies that hurt black employees.
Among other things, the EEOC alleges that the nursing home coddles racist residents by barring black employees from giving them care. Additionally, the EEOC alleges that nursing home operators racially harassed black workers, and called them names such as “boy,” “nappy” and “dog hair.”
The suit was filed on behalf of seven current or former Village at Hamilton Pointe employees who claim they have faced systematic discrimination during their time at the nursing home. The employees said they complained about their poor treatment to management, but the company that ran the nursing home never responded to their pleas.
“It is difficult to comprehend that 50 years have elapsed since the adoption of the Civil Rights Act, and employers still do not understand that it is unacceptable to honor the discriminatory racial preferences of some or any of their customers,” EEOC attorney Kenneth Lee Bird said.