WALLS, Miss. — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a concerning lawsuit against a disaster response company based in Walls, Mississippi, related to how they treat black employees.
The federal government alleges Prewett Enterprises violated civil rights laws with unlawful employment practices.
Some of the language used in the lawsuit is disturbing.
According to the lawsuit, Prewett and its sister company DeSoto Marine run work sites in multiple states including Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas.
The lawsuit makes claims on behalf of eight employees who report “daily racial harassment” by management since 2014.
According to the EEOC, Prewett management routinely gave African-American employees the most dangerous jobs and referred to them using derogatory terms like the “n word.” The lawsuit also alleges management said phrases like “all monkeys can’t be in a bunch” when referring to a group of black employees.
The lawsuit stated supervisors with Prewett “required black workers to work in the water where the snakes and dead creatures were located while white workers were on the land.”
The 2018 lawsuit also mentions a man vying for political office in DeSoto County next month. Kendall Prewett‘s campaign page shows he wants to be the next Republican supervisor of district four, which includes parts of Horn Lake and Hernando.
The lawsuit accused Kendall Prewett of using language addressing black workers like slaves and saying lines like, “I can put you in the fry tank because y’all used to sleep with the pigs” and “your grand daddy was around when my ancestors was giving them hoofs and snouts in buckets.”
WREG went to the Walls company to try to get their side of the story.
“No comment. I know nothing about it and I’ve been asked to tell y’all to leave the property,” said one man who identified himself as management.
He also says Kendall Prewett hasn’t worked for the company in three years.
In paperwork filed in federal court, lawyers for Prewett Enterprises denied the allegations.
The case is set for trial in September.
DeSoto County’s primary is Tuesday, August 6.