Waukesha-based Giertsen Company employees used racial slurs and made racist comments to Black employees, a federal lawsuit says

Employees of Giertsen Company of Wisconsin, a company that restores properties damaged by weather events, repeatedly used racial slurs and made other racist comments toward Black employees, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged in a new federal lawsuit. 

Black employees were repeatedly called racial slurs between 2018 and 2019 and the company fired an employee who complained about the racist treatment at the company's Waukesha location on Saratoga Drive, said EEOC trial attorney Richard Mrizek.

Following repeated attempts to reach the company, a Giersten representative said someone would respond to a reporter. As of about 11 a.m. Friday, that had not happened.

According to the lawsuit, filed Sept. 29 in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, managers at the Waukesha location, W223 N798 Saratoga Drive, Suite C, witnessed and participated in the racist remarks and the company did not take action to stop the behavior. After one employee complained about the racism, the company asked him to do work not included in his job description then fired him, according to a news release. 

"There was use of the N-word in the workspace, and racial jokes," Mrizek said.

The alleged remarks violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination in the workplace based on race and retaliation against an employee for complaining about racial remarks, the lawsuit said.

Giertsen also has locations in Chicago and Minneapolis. 

EEOC's Chicago District Office processes charges for discrimination made in Wisconsin, along with Illinois, Minnesota, North and South Dakota.

Contact Alex Groth at agroth@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @grothalexandria.