DENVER - After a three week battle in federal court, five former and two current Commerce City warehouse workers won a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Matheson Trucking to the tune of close to $15 million.
Five of the seven plaintiffs are immigrants from Africa and Brazil. They testified before a jury telling them about the discrimination they faced on the job back in 2010 through 2011.
According to the lawsuit, black employees worked on one side of the warehouse and whites worked on the other side. White supervisors and staff were accused of calling employees racial epithets and "lazy, stupid Africans."
The jury returned a guilty verdict on Wednesday. Each of the plaintiffs will receive $2 million each. Wednesday's verdict against Sacramento, California-based Matheson Trucking and Matheson Flight Extenders, Inc. included $13 million in punitive damages.
Many of the plaintiffs say they feel justice was served.
A Matheson attorney said the company would appeal. The company transports mail for the U.S. Postal Service and private vendors, including UPS and Federal Express.
(KUSA-TV © 2015 Multimedia Holdings Corporation with The Associated Press)
