A lawsuit has been filed against BlueOVal SK and six employees from its Hardin County battery plant, alleging the company discriminated against its workers.
The suit was filed on January 7 and represents seven individuals who have been employed by BlueOval SK’s Hardin County plant. According to the complaint, the suit is seeking a jury trial and damages for the violation of the Kentucky Civil Rights Act through discrimination and retaliation, the violation of Kentucky public policy through wrongful termination, and workers’ compensation retaliation.
The filing comes just weeks after the company announced it would lay off its 1,600 employees, as the battery park shifted from making EV batteries to batteries designed for data centers. BlueOval SK’s parent companies, Ford and SK On, had previously announced the end of their partnership and that Ford would be taking over the companies’ Kentucky plants.
The complaint alleges discrimination against and a lack of accommodations for disabilities for plaintiff William Wilmoth, who does not have a right hand. The suit says BlueOval SK would not provide the necessary accommodations despite several attempts, written and verbal, to get the specialized glove he needed. Eventually, he was transferred to a different department, where he would later report a “suspect hostile work environment” to HR.
Wilmoth and another plaintiff, Paul Engler, published an Op-Ed in The Courier Journal in December of 2024, alleging unsafe conditions and management not listening. According to the suit, BlueOval SK and defendant Rodney Page Jr., who was an employee at BlueOval during this time, then “released an anti-union propaganda video specifically attacking the Courier Journal Op-Ed.”
The suit alleges that another plaintiff, Randall Moore, an African American, was wrongfully terminated and faced racial discrimination, claiming defendant Patrick Gullet “made many racially-charged comments to Moore, such as ‘I know your people don’t work at that capacity.’” According to the suit, Moore reported the racist behavior to HR and made a report at a town hall meeting. The suit says Moore was also pressured to make false statements against his coworkers for a promotion.
The lawsuit alleges that plaintiffs Amanda Johnson, Larry Cox and Douglas Bateman were wrongfully terminated as well. The complaint claims Johnson was “treated differently from her male counterparts.” Johnson, Cox and Douglas all say they faced disability discrimination.
Plaintiff Robert Collett, according to the suit, fell and fractured his hip at work. The suit alleges that people who did not witness the incident then wrote the accident report and that the defendants did not provide him the information he needed to apply for workers’ compensation until he got a lawyer. Later, after returning to work, Collett had a heart attack. According to the suit, BlueOval SK did not provide him with disability accommodations after the medical incidents despite repeated requests and encouraged the bullying of Collett.
Source: WAVE
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