FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:        

FOR INFORMATION:
Rose & Rose PC (202) 331-8556

This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   Josh Rose Attorney for the class
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   National Communications Director NAACP

                       
Continuing Noose Incidents at Eli Lilly Warrant Full FBI Investigation

Hundreds of employees describe racially hostile environment

Another hangman’s noose has been found on the corporate campus of Eli Lilly, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.

On the morning of Feb. 9, a contract security guard patrolling one of the company’s parking structures at its headquarters in Indianapolis, discovered the noose hanging from a tree, leaving her terrorized by the experience.

This recent incident is the third hangman’s noose reported at Eli Lilly offices. A report by the contracted security company allegedly indicates that the entire Feb. 9 incident was captured by Eli Lilly security surveillance cameras, yet company officials have sealed the evidence.

Last November the NAACP joined in a class action lawsuit to end hundreds of current and former African American employees’ descriptions of pervasive, unfair termination rates, pay discrimination and hostile working environments at Eli Lilly.  

“It just keeps getting worse and worse each time,” said Cassandra Welch, lead plaintiff in the case. “Let’s just hope no one has to get hurt or dies before Eli Lilly takes action against these vicious hate crimes happening at their facilities.”

Welch contends that she and the class action lawsuit are the targets of the recent hate activity.  Since the suit was filed, hundreds of employees have validated Welch’s claims against the company with their own personal testimonies.

The NAACP views the hanging of a noose as a hate crime and fully supports an investigation by the FBI. Given the history of lynching in the United States, a noose today is a powerful symbol of American white supremacy and pure barbarism.

The presence of a hangman’s noose was first reported at Eli Lilly’s Clinton Plant in 1996, where a stuffed white sheet painted black with a noose around its neck was left dangling where dozens of employees could observe it. Then four years ago, also during Black History Month, Welch reported a black doll with a hangman’s noose around its neck dangling from her desk at the company’s headquarters.

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: www.fremeinc.com to learn more about the campaign.

Details of the class action lawsuit can be found at www.roselawyers.com

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