(ThyBlackMan.com) A lawsuit filed late November against the communications company Comcast, alleges ethnic based discrimination against employees at one of its facilities located in the South side of Chicago. Allegations of providing inferior service and equipment to customers who are predominately black have also been made. Comcast is one of the largest communications companies in the United States offering a variety of services that include television cable services, internet and phone. Comcast has received numerous diversity awards over the years.
On November 28, 2011, a lawsuit filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Illinois, lists 11 employees or former employees, all of African descent as plaintiffs and lists Comcast Corporation, Inc as the defendant. The specific charges are as follows:
- African American employees were forced to work in a substandard facility.
- African American employees are forced to install infested, defective, and/or used equipment into customers’ homes.
- African American employees are not provided with the necessary tools to diagnose and fix service outages.
- African American employees are not provided with the same training and promotional opportunities as employees at other facilities.
- African American employees are not provided with equal pay or fair evaluations like employees at other locations.
- African American employees were subjected to a hostile work environment because of their race.
The lawsuit which has not be assigned a class action status says “that any African American employee who worked at the 721 E. 112th Streetfacility between 2005-present is a proposed class member.” 
The complaint alleges that customers serviced by Comcast’s South Side facility located at 721 E. 112th Street, Chicago, IL 60628, received inferior service in comparison to customers in other areas. Lawyers for the plaintiffs are interested in obtaining information from individuals who between 2005 to present, received cable services from the Comcast South side facility. The law firm Noelle Brennan and Associates located in Chicago, Illinois represents the plaintiffs.
Angelynne S. Amore, the greater Chicago regional director for Corporate Communications forwarded a statement in response to our inquiry about these allegations reads:
“Comcast adamantly denies the allegations and will vigorously defend itself in court. As this relates to pending litigation, we cannot comment any further.”
Comcast is the largest cable service and home Internet provider in the United Statesand its corporate headquarters is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is the fourth largest home telephone service provider in the country. According to a J.D. Power and Associates 2011 report on customer satisfaction with television service providers, Comcast ranked very low only scoring better than Time Warner Cable and Charter in the North Central Region that includes the state of Illinois.
Comcast has received awards in 2011 relating to diversity. For three years in a row, the Association of Diversity Councils listed Comcast’s Internal Diversity Council among the Top 25 Diversity Councils. It has been named among DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy Companies cited for an “excellent supplier-diversity program.” Comcast was named corporate partner of the year in 2011 by The National Black Chamber of Commerce and it has worked with various other ethnic groups like the National Urban League.
Staff Writer; Scotty Reid
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