Five electricians sued Amazon and its contractors for subjecting them to a racially hostile work environment at a Connecticut jobsite where work was temporarily halted after workers and police discovered at least eight hangman’s nooses during construction. The lawsuit follows the completion of an Amazon distribution center in Windsor, Connecticut, where electrical workers of color discovered the nooses over several weeks in April and May 2021. According to the lawsuit, filed Sept. 21 in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, Amazon and its contractors — Fairfield, New Jersey-based RC Andersen and Holliston, Massachusetts-based Wayne J. Griffin Electric — should be held liable for the damages workers of color suffered at the site. In response to the electrician discovering the noose, the suit said a Griffin foreman gathered the electricians of color to read a statement from RC Andersen about the company’s anti-discrimination policy. But because it was only read to workers of color, according to the suit, it sent the message on site that a noose in the workplace was only a concern for people of color.
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