Tuesday, February 12, 2008

A NOOSE IN THE MOUSE HOUSE


Black ABC engineer sues Disney over noose displayyahoo ^ Mon Feb 11, 7:09 PM ET
Posted on 02/12/2008 12:07:07 AM PST by dennisw
A black engineer sued Disney's American Broadcasting Co on Monday, saying his supervisors refused to remove a black doll that dangled from a hangman's noose near his work station for more than a year.

Oswald Wilson, who worked in ABC's Broadcast and Engineering Division in Manhattan, said the doll was displayed beginning in March 2004 in response to a newspaper clip celebrating Black History Month that he put up, according to the lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.
But an ABC spokeswoman said that there was "absolutely no tolerance for discrimination" at the company and that the doll was actually a Mardi Gras voodoo doll displayed by some employees, including Wilson, to "put a hex on a supervisor."

"What Mr. Wilson appears to be describing are Mardi Gras beads and a Mardi Gras doll that he participated in placing," ABC spokeswoman Julie Hoover said.
The lawsuit accuses American Broadcasting Co, its parent company Walt Disney Co., and six of Wilson's superiors of discrimination and allowing a hostile work environment.
Wilson said that he was also forced to endure "racially charged comments and epithets" by his immediate supervisors.

Wilson first discovered the noose -- a potent symbol of racist lynchings and hatred of black Americans -- in March 2004. He notified his manager, saying "such a hateful display was incredibly offensive to him as an African-American man."
Wilson was temporarily transferred to another location, but the doll was never taken down, he alleged in the complaint.

According to the complaint, Wilson was told that since the noose was not "in his immediate work area" he did not have reason to complain.
The doll was taken down in October 2006, only after Wilson was transferred back to the original location and had informed his superiors that he photographed it, the complaint said.
Hoover said that the doll was removed as soon as Wilson told human resources division of its existence.

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