Black electrical worker files anti-discrimination lawsuit, claims he was fired for reporting a noose on job site

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Black electrical worker who says he was fired after he reported finding a noose on a job site has filed a federal anti-discrimination lawsuit against the company.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday, Stevie Lamont Stuckes alleges that in his nearly three-year tenure at Pike Electric, he was subjected to workplace culture rife with “racially charged ‘jokes'” and racial slurs, The Charlotte Observer reported.

James Banner, senior vice president of administration at Pike Electric, told the newspaper in a statement that the company “takes these allegations very seriously and took immediate action at the time to address the incident.”

“We believe these allegations completely distort the facts and the company’s response,” Banner said. “Pike looks forward to responding in court with the facts as they actually happened.”

While on job sites, the lawsuit said Stuckes’ coworkers often told him, “You don’t know where you at, boy,” and used other derogatory language about Black people. The alleged harassment escalated in October 2019, when the lawsuit states Stuckes was assigned a job in Clearwater, Florida.

Stuckes was the only Black person on the five-person crew. Within a month of their arrival, a white crew member is accused of pulling a knife on Stuckes, who said he reported the incident but nothing was done.

He found the noose a few days later, on Nov. 10. 2019. Though Stuckes again reported the incident, the lawsuit states the company “did nothing to alleviate the terror Stevie felt.”

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