Suit Accuses Albertson's of Ignoring Bias

DENVER - A federal agency's lawsuit accuses Albertson's Inc. of ignoring a decade-long pattern of harassment at a suburban Denver distribution center that ranged from racist graffiti on bathroom fixtures to threats of violence against Hispanic and black employees.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission contended in the federal lawsuit that the grocery chain's managers failed to take adequate action to end what the agency described as a hostile workplace.

Albertsons LLC, formed by the investment group Cerberus Capital Management LP, acquired the grocery chain's stores in the Rocky Mountains, Southwest, northern California, Florida, and in Dallas-Fort Worth on June 2. In a statement, the company said the allegations happened before the acquisition but that it will investigate and possibly take corrective and disciplinary action.

In the lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, EEOC attorneys said they traced harassment at the Aurora center to at least 1995. Swastikas and ethnic racial slurs remained on bathroom fixtures, walls and elsewhere for months and years in some cases, the attorneys charged. Other drawings depicted black and Hispanic individuals with ropes around their necks.

The suit alleges that representatives of Albertsons human resources department failed to act when a black employee accused a white manager of threatening him with physical violence.

The EEOC has asked a federal judge to order Albertsons to pay the employees an amount to be determined at trial for emotional pain, suffering and inconvenience. It also wants Albertsons to eliminate practices that it said created the hostile work environment.

Attorney Nancy Weeks of the EEOC's Denver office said Wednesday up to 200 minority employees work at the center but the number to be included in the lawsuit would be determined later.

Earlier this year, Minneapolis-based Supervalu Inc. led a consortium that agreed to buy Boise, Idaho-based Albertson's for $9.7 billion in cash and stock, plus assumed debt. The acquisition closed last month.

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On the Net: http://www.albertsons.com