Tyson Foods has agreed to pay $871,000 to settle lawsuits in which black workers alleged they were racially harassed and retaliated against at a chicken processing plant in Ashland, Alabama.

The settlement resolves two race discrimination and retaliation lawsuits against the poultry giant under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act: one filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in August 2005, and another filed by a group of 13 former and present African-American employees.

Collectively, the litigation accused Tyson Foods of maintaining a racially hostile work environment at the Ashland facility--including a racially segregated bathroom facility, racial slurs, and intimidation--and retaliating against employees who complained.

The EEOC said that a Tyson employee established a locked, segregated bathroom facility, which on occasion had signs posted. Keys to the facility were allegedly distributed by that employee to white employees only.

In settling the lawsuits, the company denied violating any laws.

"We're committed to treating all team members fairly and this includes providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment," said Ken Kimbro, senior vice president of Human Resources for Tyson Foods.  "Evidence of our commitment includes a companywide code of conduct, team member bill of rights and set of core values, which instruct our people to treat each other with dignity and respect. We also require all of our team members to be trained annually on the company's harassment and discrimination policy. In addition, we support diversity and inclusion in the workplace, through our Office of Diversity Business Practices and Executive Diversity Business Council."

The agency says that the settlement requires the company's Ashland facility:

• To appoint a senior level employee to oversee the implementation of the settlement. The coordinator will be responsible for reviewing Tyson's policies and procedures for addressing discriminatory workplace conduct and supplementing those policies as necessary.
• To provide periodic training to all employees on what constitutes racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation--and on how to respond to such actions.
• To monitor employee discipline for potential or actual disparate treatment in the distribution of discipline or the resolution of grievances.
• To hold supervisors accountable for participating in, permitting, or failing to report incidents of racial discrimination or harassment. Performance appraisals on supervisors at the Ashland plant will include compliance with the discrimination and harassment policies.