Mayor mum on alleged racially hostile workplace at ThyssenKrupp
BY ADESHINA EMMANUEL Staff Reporter aemmanuel@suntimes.com February 4, 2012 9:26PM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel
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Updated: March 6, 2012 8:26AM
Mayor Rahm Emanuel refused to weigh in Saturday night about allegations of racial discrimination levied against ThyssenKrupp, a German conglomerate that last week agreed to make Chicago its North American regional headquarters.
The Sun-Times reported Saturday that the Illinois Department of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that ThyssenKrupp — an international global technology and materials group employing 180,000 people in 80 countries — created a hostile work environment at a Chicago office where employees allegedly made racially disparaging comments that included frequent use of the n-word.
The department found “substantial evidence of discrimination.”
Emanuel, who attended a Museum of Contemporary Art fundraiser Saturday night, was tight-lipped when asked about the findings.
He said he would respond to the allegations, “when the time is right,” and referred a reporter to a previous statement from his office that stressed that Chicago has “zero tolerance for prejudice.”
The Sun-Times asked Emanuel how the city would react, in light of that policy, if the allegations against the German company prove true. He again declined to comment.
