Lynn Long, a Black mechanic for the Architect of the Capitol, was referred to as a racial slur and as “lazy” by colleagues, was tasked with “dirty jobs” and subjected to different working conditions than his white co-workers, a lawsuit filed Friday against the agency alleges.
The complaint — which claims Long has been discriminated against based on his race, retaliated against and subjected to a hostile work environment — comes after one of Long’s colleagues, Anthony Green, settled a lawsuit with the agency in November of 2021. Green, who is a Black man, alleged he found a noose hanging from equipment he was assigned to inspect and was called racial slurs. The agency agreed to pay Green $85,000 in “compensatory damages.”
Four individuals, three of them white and one Black, “openly spoke poorly, and in racially charged terms” about Long and Green, the lawsuit says. They also falsely claimed Long and Green worked more slowly than other mechanics, that their work was inferior and that the Black employees were “lazy,” according to the lawsuit.
