A black former Fox News technician is the latest to accuse the Fox News/NY Post crowd of racism. Harmeen Jones, 32, says he was fired from the network last year after complaining to Human Resources about some offensive crap his co-workers allegedly shoveled at him. He's suing for $3 million, and claims he was even physically threatened by one employee, Damien Rodriguez, who got in his face and said, "I’m the reason you got hired, and if it wasn’t for me you’d be fired. You must think I’m a punk, we can take this to the streets." The lawsuit accuses Fox employees of a daily barrage of offensive remarks about blacks, Arabs, Muslims, Hispanics, women, and Jews. Here's a sample!
- While watching footage from a Tea Party rally, one colleague allegedly opined, "This is what happens when you mess with white people's health care."
- During the 2008 presidential campaign, Jones says two of his coworkers said they wouldn't feel comfortable having a black president. At that point one of men turned to him and allegedly asked, "Am I offending your blackness?"
- Jones also claims that on another occasion he was told, "You look like a gangster" and "You look like you're ready to shoot someone."
Jones also says his co-workers pretended not to hear him when he made transmission requests, and that his superiors denied his requests for paid training, while giving other, less senior white employees paid training. And when he finally complained to Human Resources, his co-workers called him a "snitch" and he was promptly called on the carpet by Steve Cary, the Director of Operations, who allegedly told him, "We gave you a chance and you repay us by making complaints to HR? You are terminated." (Huffington Post is hosting a pdf of the filing.)
Jones's lawsuit follows a string of harassment suits against the NY Post, which is owned by the same parent company as Fox News. Fox has declined to comment on Jones's lawsuit, but be sure to tune into The Daily Show tonight for context and analysis!
