The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal company, stated it was suing ExxonMobil after a number of nooses have been found on the firm’s complicated in Baton Rouge, La.

The EEOC stated ExxonMobil didn’t take motion after a Black worker found a noose at his work station on the chemical plant in January 2020. At the time, it was the fourth noose uncovered on the Baton Rouge web site — and a fifth was discovered on the finish of that 12 months.

ExxonMobil allegedly “investigated some, but not all, of the prior incidents and failed to take measures reasonably calculated to end the harassment” which resulted in “a racially hostile work environment,” in line with the EEOC’s assertion on Thursday. ExxonMobil’s lack of motion, the federal company alleges, was a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

“A noose is a longstanding symbol of violence associated with the lynching of African Americans,” Elizabeth Owen, a senior trial legal professional for the EEOC’s New Orleans workplace, stated within the statement. “Such symbols are inherently threatening and significantly alter the workplace environment for Black Americans.”

“Even isolated displays of racially threatening symbols are unacceptable in American workplaces,” Michael Kirkland, director of the EEOC’s New Orleans subject workplace, added.

ExxonMobil didn’t instantly reply to NPR’s request for remark. On Friday, an organization spokesperson told NBC News that it disagreed with the federal company’s findings.

“We encourage employees to report claims like this, and we thoroughly investigated,” the spokesperson stated. “The symbols of hate are unacceptable, offensive, and in violation of our corporate policies.”

The EEOC filed the swimsuit within the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, after it stated it tried to succeed in a settlement.

The incident is one in all a number of alarming discoveries of nooses on show up to now few years. In November, a noose was found at the Obama Presidential Center construction site in Chicago. In May 2022, a noose was discovered hanging from a tree at Stanford University. In May 2021, Amazon halted building of a warehouse after a number of nooses have been uncovered at a site in Connecticut. And in June 2020, nooses have been found at a public park in Oakland, Calif.