A recent court filing reveals a disturbing case of alleged racial discrimination and retaliation within a prominent industrial construction services contractor. On September 20, 2024, Jayden Allen and Rashid Fefee filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against Performance Contractors, Inc., alleging illegal discrimination and retaliation based on race.
The plaintiffs, Jayden Allen and Rashid Fefee, both Black men residing in Louisiana, worked for Performance Contractors at the Renewable Energy Group (REG) plant in Geismar, Louisiana. According to the complaint, on March 20, 2024, they reported incidents involving racist slurs used by their supervisors and coworkers. Specifically, they accused a coworker named Grayson and their supervisor Jacques of using the N-word in their presence. Despite filing formal complaints with multiple managerial employees and submitting written reports about these discriminatory comments, they were met with inadequate responses from the company's management.
The day after reporting these incidents, Allen and Fefee were informed by Adam LNU, a white project manager for Performance Contractors, that Jacques had been terminated while Grayson was merely suspended because he had used the racial slur "in a story." The plaintiffs allege that this decision reflected a dismissive attitude towards their complaints. Moreover, they claim that HR never conducted an investigation into their complaints as promised.
Following their complaints, both plaintiffs experienced increased hostility from coworkers. They allege that they were called "rats" and faced other forms of intimidation. Eventually, both were terminated under the pretext that there was no more work available at the REG plant—a claim they believe to be false since other employees continued working there for months afterward.
Jayden Allen detailed further instances of racial harassment where he was repeatedly called "boy" by another coworker named Tristan LNU despite expressing his discomfort. His complaints to his foreman Eppi and General Foreman Chance Stanley went unaddressed. Similarly, Rashid Fefee recounted being forced to work alone with Grayson despite his objections and facing hostility from other staff members.
The lawsuit cites violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, and the Louisiana Employment Discrimination Law (LEDL). The plaintiffs are seeking various forms of relief including back pay with interest or an appropriate inflation factor; front pay; compensatory damages for emotional pain; suffering; inconvenience; mental anguish; loss of enjoyment of life; punitive damages for discriminatory practices done with malice or reckless indifference to federally protected rights; pre-and post-judgment interest; reasonable attorneys’ fees including expert fees and costs; mandatory training for Defendant’s employees regarding discrimination based on race; sex-based discrimination; retaliation-based discrimination training among others.
Representing Jayden Allen and Rashid Fefee are attorneys Philip Bohrer from Bohrer Brady LLC based in Baton Rouge along with Jay D. Ellwanger and Madison Chilton from Ellwanger Henderson LLP based in Austin Texas who will be filing pro hac vice applications shortly. The case is presided over by Judge S.D.J-R.L.B under Case ID: 3:24-cv-00789-SDJ-RLB.