Details of the class action lawsuit can be found at www.roselawyers.com
FOR INFORMATION:
Rose & Rose PC (202) 331-8556
For more information or to schedule an interview please contact

This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it President Indianapolis NAACP (317)925-5127
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Class Representative Welch et al v Eli Lilly
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it NAACP Communications Director (410) 580-5787 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ELI LILLY ADMITS WRONG DOING IN RECENT NOOSE INCIDENT

Eli Lilly now admits that it failed to report a noose found outside its Indianapolis headquarters in February. Lilly did not thoroughly investigate the incident until the FBI launched a federal hate crime investigation in March, based on reports from a concerned member of the NAACP.

Bob Reilley, director of global security for Eli Lilly, stated in a company newsletter recently that the corporation’s investigation found that on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 9, 2008, a rope with a knotted loop was observed in a tree outside of the parking garage of the Lilly Corporate Center.

Lilly officials admit they began internal investigations in cooperation with the FBI several weeks following the incident, which may have affected the potential for gathering uncompromised evidence from the alleged crime scene.

Reilley expressed regret that an initial incident report was not handled appropriately and that a thorough investigation was not immediately begun after receiving the report. "We regret that this delay occurred," he said.

Indianapolis FBI Manager of Investigations Special Agent Mark Mahon could not comment on the details of the Eli Lilly investigation, but did say “the more evidence that is available the better the investigation”. He further stated that alleged hate crime investigation has been turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice for further action.

The discovery of the noose is the latest in a series of troubling incidents at the pharmaceutical giant. Last November the NAACP joined in a class action lawsuit brought by hundreds of current and former African American employees to end what they describe as pervasive race discrimination in promotions, terminations, pay, retaliation and racially hostile working environments at Eli Lilly, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. That case, known as Welch et. al v Eli Lilly Co. , and is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.  

“The NAACP views the hanging of a noose as a hate crime and fully supports the investigation by the FBI,” said NAACP Greater Indianapolis Branch President Cornell Burris.

Dawn Johnson, the security guard who discovered the noose on the Lilly headquarters campus has been terrorized by the experience and referred to the FBI Victims Assistance program for hate crime victims.

Securitas, Eli Lilly’s contracted security company and Johnson’s employer, just earlier this month, moved Johnson’s work assignment away from the Lilly campus and retains financially substantial contracts with the drug manufacturer.

"We take seriously any report that is suggestive of possible racial, ethnic or religious intolerance," said Bob Armitage, Lilly senior vice president and general counsel.  

Yet, when plaintiffs in the race discrimination lawsuit requested records from Lilly about the alleged noose incident, Lilly stated (Official Legal Response available/attached):
 Lilly objects . . . on the grounds that [the request] is [not] relevant to the subject matter of this action . . Lilly further objects to the request on the grounds that it is vague and argumentative, including but not limited to the use of the terms “resembling,” hangman’s noose,” and “noose.”

Cassandra Welch, the lead plaintiff in the class action suit, reports that in 2004 she found a black doll with a hangman’s noose around its neck dangling from her desk at Lilly following her filing a discrimination complaint.

“Sounds like the same Lilly pattern of cover up and sweep under the rug,” said Welch. “If Lilly really had intentions to take the [noose] matter seriously and do the right thing it would gladly cooperate and turn over its results.” Legal action is expected to force release of Lilly and Securitas records.

Given the history of lynching in the United States, a noose today is a powerful symbol of American white supremacy and pure barbarism. The FBI began investigating what are now known as hate crimes as far back as the early 1920s, when they opened their first Ku Klux Klan case. Today, they remain dedicated to working with state and local authorities to prevent these crimes and to bring to justice those who commit them.

Johnson contacted Welch and is seeking assistance in retaining NAACP and other legal representation in the matter. Her case is under legal review.  

A national campaign of awareness is underway to create a public discourse around civil rights violations, inequality in employment and to investigate the emotional toll that discrimination plays on the American workforce. Log on to: http://www.fremeinc.com/ to learn more about the campaign.  

Details of the class action lawsuit can be found at www.roselawyers.com
FOR INFORMATION:
Rose & Rose PC (202) 331-8556
For more information or to schedule an interview please contact

This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it President Indianapolis NAACP (317)925-5127
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it Class Representative Welch et al v Eli Lilly
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it NAACP Communications Director (410) 580-5787 

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