Bay Bridge Worker Says He Was Threatened With Hangman's Noose On Jobsite
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) – A former Bay Bridge worker is suing a construction firm for racial discrimination, claiming co-workers threatened him with a hangman's noose and rope.
It was September 25th, 2015 when apprentice field iron worker James Brown said his job, at a Caltrans maintenance facility near the Bay Bridge, made his stomach turn.
"While I was working on the job, my foreman threw down a hangman's noose," Brown told KPIX 5.
Twenty minutes later, another incident took place. "One of the co-workers threw a rope at me and told me to put it around my neck," Brown said.
At the end of the day, Brown said the only other African-American on the Adams & Smith jobsite found a rope on his car.
Brown said he want to his shop steward and reported the incidents.
"They tried to apologize. He said he was going to take care of it," Brown said. "Nothing ever happened."
Brown, a father of two, said his hours were cut after that. He was then told there was no more work for him.
"That's retaliation, which is against both federal law and state law," said Bryan McCormack, Brown's attorney.
The worker said, "I think about it all the time, day to day. It's a traumatic situation for me. It's something I never experienced. It's there in my mind, all the time."
KPIX 5 reached out to the Utah-based company, but did not hear back. On the Adams & Smith website, the company touts its work on the Bay Bridge and said they're "committed to maintaining a company that creates employee pride."
McCormack said their actions indicate otherwise. "They think they're a big corporation that can pick on the individual and nothing will happen. What we can do is stand up for Mr. Brown and make sure this never happens again," he said.
Brown is suing for damages and lost wages.
On February 11th, the President of Adams & Smith, Morgan Humphries, responded to a request for comment by KPIX with an email.
"While we cannot comment on pending litigation, we want to make clear that we take these claims very seriously. Adams & Smith has a strong policy against harassment, discrimination, and retaliation of any kind and we believe that through the course of this litigation we will be vindicated," the email read.
