Black utility workers in lawsuit allege they face discrimination while working at Peoples Gas

Letitia Jackson, a former Peoples Gas employee, is among nearly a dozen former and current Peoples Gas employees filing a federal lawsuit against the company over alleged safety and racial discrimination. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Sun-Times)

Letitia Jackson felt passionate about her career after getting hired by one of the state’s largest utility companies, where few other Black professionals worked.

“For me to be the face of a Black woman, that could say I know how to do construction, I know how to do piping,” Jackson said, “I was really proud of that, and to say that I work at Peoples Gas — that was something I was proud of.”