| | Defense contractor sued after firing employee for 'n-word' complaint
 Marvin Jackson, a former employee of US defense contractor Northrop Grumman, has filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired after complaining of a co-worker's use of the 'n-word.' His plight became the focus of a report on CNN's American Morning on Thursday.
"In this particular case, Marvin Jackson says he was at work, he was at Northrop Grumman, and a coworker came up to him and said, 'Hey, what's up my ... N-word," said CNN reporter Sunny Hostin. "Actually, the co-worker's defense in this was, 'I was trying to bond. I grew up in the inner-city, I am white, but this is a term of endearment, and this is something that I use.'"
Marvin Jackson did not see it that way. And, he claims, his complaint over the exchange cost him his job.
"I don't use that word with my friends, and my friends don't use it with me," Jackson told CNN. "And I'm not a friend of this person, and he has no right to address me in that manner."
"As one of our nation's leading defense suppliers, Northrop Grumman is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer -- one which does not tolerate racial discrimination or harassment in any form in the workplace," said Katherine Lamb-Heinz, a spokesperson for Northrop. "Because legal proceedings associated with Mr. Jackson's case are still pending, it would be improper for us to discuss the details of his allegations."
"We're seeing a lot of this," said CNN's Hostin. "These 'n-word' lawsuits. And in January 2008, Lockheed-Martin paid $2.5 million to settle a similar racial harassment lawsuit. $2.5 million to an African-American electrician who was subjected to the 'n-word'. I think the takeaway here is it's never appropriate to use that type of word, in my view ever, but certainly not in the workplace."
This video is from CNN's American Morning, broadcast July 24, 2008.
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