Race in the workplace

RACE IN THE WORKPLACE: Attorneys Johnnie Cochran and Ken Thompson announce that they will represent (rear, l-r) Peter Snowden, Eric Berry and Yolanda Washington in a discrimination lawsuit against the Manhattan-based Radianz finance company, which is a joint venture of Reuters information services company and Equant, a data-networking company.

The workers allege Radianz managers sent Berry offensive e-mails and used racial slurs, underpaid Washington and fired Snowden when he tried to protest the unfair treatment. Berry, a product marketing director, says a supervisor sent him offensive and demeaning e-mails that were copied and sent to several others. One contained a lewd sketch that allegedly depicted Berry as a 40-ounce beer bottle toting stick figure with bucked teeth, cornrows, large genitalia and a noose around his neck. Once the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission completes its investigation into the claims, all three workers plan to sue Radianz. The three firms, which are all named in the complaint, have denied wrongdoing and insisted that they condemned workplace racism.