Consolidated Freightways has been handed its second court loss in the past few months and still has two cases pending, all regarding employee mistreatment.

Two cases involve mechanics at the company’s Kansas City terminal who claim they are victims of the company tolerating a racially hostile workplace.
A week ago a jury for the U.S. District Court in Kansas City ordered CF to pay $500,000 to Roberto Guerrero for discriminating against him because he is Hispanic.
Guerrero claimed coworkers used racial slurs toward him, tossed manure on him and locked him in a trailer and tied him to a ladder with plastic wrap outside in the cold on separate occasions, and that supervisors failed to act on his complaints.
Mike Brown, spokesman for Consolidated Freightways, told Truckinginfo.com, “We believe the verdict is in error,” adding he would not comment further because the company plans to appeal.
The ruling came just five months after a black mechanic at the same terminal won a case in which he claimed he was subjected to racial slurs, which he says grew more frequent after he complained to supervisors. James Lee says he was also denied job opportunities and pay raises.
A jury sided with him, awarding $1 million in punitive damages.
Brown said, “We believe there were serious procedural errors with the case and are confident it will be reversed on appeal.”
These two decisions come as Consolidated Freightways is having to deal with two other employee complaint cases.
The Kansas City Star newspaper reports the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed suit against the carrier in May on behalf of a dozen black people at the Kansas City terminal who claim CF has allowed a hostile work environment to continue since 1997.
Brown told the newspaper the claims are without merit.
Meantime, a suit is still pending from workers at the Mira Loma, Calif., terminal who filed an invasion of privacy suit after cameras were discovered in employee bathrooms in 1997.
In January the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a federal appeals court decision in 2001 that reinstated the bathroom camera lawsuit by nearly 300 employees against Consolidated Freightways.
Brown said that case has been sent back to a California state court, where it currently awaits action.
CF earlier claimed that employees were notified about the cameras, which they said were used to monitor for illegal drug use and drug deals.
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