Norcross logistics firm accused of racial promotions bias; federal labor law violations

A DSC spokeswoman said the claims are untrue.

“We are aware of Ms. White’s complaints; we will vigorously defend ourselves against these false allegations,” DSC spokeswoman Tracy Drake said. Citing the pending litigation, Drake said she could not comment further.

Smucker's is named in the suit because some of the alleged discrimination occurred at a Smucker's distribution warehouse that is managed by DSC. A Smucker’s spokeswoman said the company could not comment because it had not yet seen the suit.

White, who is black, alleges that her duties included investigating claims of racial discrimination in Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Chicago.

The suit says that in March of this year, she began investigating five complaints from black employees who said they were passed over for promotions in favor of whites who were hired from outside the company.

The suit alleges “DSC management, including Mona Mounts, told Ms. White to justify overlooking qualified African Americans by reference to contrived educational requirements that had not been required of similarly situated Caucasians.”

In her suit, White also claims the company punished black employees more severely than whites for infractions.

In one alleged instance of discrimination, the lawsuit states Dolak and another employee told White to rewrite a discipline memo on a white worker by toning it down and reducing the penalty. White alleges she was told to fire black employees accused of the same infraction and to “lay it on them.”

In addition, the complaint says the company forced drivers to drive for longer periods than the law allowed and that random drug testing and screening procedures were not followed.

In two instances, White claims, Dolak told her to stop her investigations of two company drivers -- one of whom had been involved in at least four accidents in DSC vehicles and was not disciplined. In the other instance, the driver is alleged to have had multiple moving violations, a suspended license and involved in vehicular homicide.

The suit says when she brought these incidents to her supervisors, she was told she “needed to overlook this or that there would be consequences.”