EEOC Sues on Behalf of Nearly 200 Somali Muslims Who Claim Religious Harassment, Termination From Meatpacking Plants

Sept. 2, 2010— -- Discrimination and harassment complaints from nearly 200 Somali Muslims against a meat processing corporation have caught the attention of federal employment attorneys who blasted the company in joint lawsuits from two states.

The employees -- 85 from Nebraska, 89 from Colorado -- allege religious and ethnic intolerance so severe that the workers were taunted with slurs and had meat and bones hurled at them before dozens were fired from plants in both states during Ramadan 2008.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) told ABCNews.com the number of affected employees could eventually swell by hundreds as it continues the investigation.

The employees, mostly political refugees, had requested to management at both JBS Swift & Co. plants that they be allowed to alter their break times to observe Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, and use their bathroom and meal breaks to pray, according to the EEOC.

What they were met with, the dual lawsuits allege, were taunts and a refusal to comply with their requests even though such accommodations had already been included in the workers' collective bargaining agreements.

"Managers, supervisors and other employees regularly threw blood, meat and bones at the Somali and Muslim employees," the Colorado suit alleges, going on to describe graffiti with the words "F**k Somalians,," "F**k Muslims" and "F**k Mohammed."

JBS Swift could not be reached for comment after multiple attempts.

The harassment came to a head, both EEOC districts claim, during Ramadan 2008 when dozens of employees were terminated. JBS Swift, which is a subsidiary of a Brazilian multinational, claims they all walked off the job, according to the lawsuits, filed late Monday in U.S. District Courts in Colorado and Nebraska.

Barbara Seely, the EEOC's St. Louis regional attorney, who is handling the Nebraska complaint, declined to offer specifics on the terminations, only saying that they did leave the premises of the Grand Island plant.

But for the Greeley, Colo., plant, the JBS Swift headquarters, the EEOC offered a timeline of events that, they say, left many of the refugees without jobs.