Ex-NASCAR worker alleges racial discrimination in lawsuit

[charlie and algernon]

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/news/story?id=3435581

As an aspiring racing official, Mauricia Grant had grown used to working in a man's world.

When she finally made it into NASCAR, Grant was appalled at the way she was treated beginning from her first day on the job until her firing last October.

Now she's suing NASCAR for $225 million, alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination.

"I loved it. It was a great, exciting, adrenaline-filled job where I worked with fast cars and the best drivers in the world," Grant told The Associated Press. "But there was an ongoing daily pattern . It was the nature of the people I worked with, the people who ran it, it trickled down from the top.

"It's just the way things are in the garage," she said.

The 32-year-old Grant, who is black, worked as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series from January 2005 until her termination. In the lawsuit, she alleged she was referred to as "Nappy Headed Mo" and "Queen Sheba" by co-workers, was often told she worked on "colored people time" and was frightened by one official who routinely made references to the Ku Klux Klan.

The lawsuit details a series of those alleged incidents:

• Grant was forced to work outside more often than the white male officials because her supervisors believed she couldn't sunburn because she was black.

• While riding in the backseat of her car pool at Talladega Superspeedway, co-workers told her to duck as they passed race fans. "I don't want to start a riot when these fans see a black woman in my car," she claims one official said.

• When packing up a dark garage at Texas Motor Speedway an official told Grant: "Keep smiling and pop your eyes out 'cause we can't see you."

• When she ignored advances from co-workers, Grant was accused of being gay. She also claimed co-workers questioned the sexual orientation of two other female officials.

[MikeNearMcChord]

1. I hope she nails these f***kers!!!

Let them know this is the 21st century the hard way!

[opihimoimoi]

2. Please do not stop until ya got $7586897097989.09 from those dudes

Fuckum All....evil fuckers.