Supervisors and employees at Bath Iron Works would call their Black coworkers racist slurs without repercussion, according to a new lawsuit.
Aaron Martin, a former Bath Iron Works welder, filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday, saying the company allowed discrimination based on race, which violates multiple laws.
Martin, a Black man, started working at the shipyard in August 2018. His employment was terminated in October 2021, for reasons not related to the lawsuit. Bath Iron Works, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, employed about 4,000 people at the time Martin worked there.
Throughout his time at Bath Iron Works, he experienced “severe and pervasive racial discrimination and harassment” that was allowed to continue, the lawsuit said.
Bath Iron Works started building ships in 1884 and has made more than 425 since then, according to its website. The company makes ships from design to delivery, including building ships for the U.S. Navy. The company is Maine’s fourth largest employer in 2023 with 6,001 to 6,5000 employees, according to the state of Maine.
Bath Iron Works does not comment on pending litigation, spokesperson David Hench said.
“The allegations in the complaint speak for themselves,” Martin’s attorney, Nicholas Bernate, said. “During the years that Aaron worked at Bath Iron Works, he was regularly subject to racial slurs and severe discrimination based on the color of his skin. We look forward to Bath Iron Works being held to account for its conduct.”
Martin of Dresden filed discrimination complaints with the Maine Human Rights Commission and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, both of which gave him a notice of his right to sue, the lawsuit said.
Co-workers and supervisors would regularly call Martin a racist slur that is directed at Black people, according to the lawsuit. One co-worker called Martin a racist slur in front of dozens of employees and supervisors.
The supervisors did not reprimand the coworker, the lawsuit said. Instead, a supervisor suggested that Martin should have physically assaulted the co-worker.
One of Martin’s supervisors would call Black employees a racist slur in written communication, while also using the slur to reference work he thought was inferior.
Employees would also call Martin a chimp and monkey, and make noises imitating monkeys when he or other Black employees were around, the lawsuit said. Calling Black people monkeys or apes is a centuries-old racist trope that was used to condone slavery and suggest the idea that Black people are subhuman.
One supervisor used racist slurs for Black people and Hispanic people to describe his crew to a welder, adding Bath Iron Works “is an equal opportunity employer after all,” the lawsuit said.
There were no efforts to hide the harassment, which was done openly. Because of that, the lawsuit said, the company should have known it was happening and taken action.
Martin is asking for the court to declare Bath Iron Works’ actions were unlawful discrimination, award compensatory and punitive damages and award attorneys’ fees and cost.