An offshore worker on an oil rig has filed a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination.

In New Orleans, offshore worker and plaintiff Maurice W. has filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against his employer, Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling, claiming that a supervisor created a threatening image of him. He also claims that he was passed over for a promotion and was removed from his rig assignment because of racial discrimination.

Maurice says that his supervisor drew a picture that depicted him dangling from a high rig structure, surrounded by other works in Klu Klux Klan hats. He claims that after he attempted to address the issue, he was then denied a promotion and was then removed from the rig and not asked to return for further employment.

Maurice, a resident of Morton, Miss., argues that Transocean failed to provide him with a safe workplace that was free of racial discrimination. He seeks unspecified damages from the company.

In his racial discrimination lawsuit, Maurice says that he was assigned the job of lubricating equipment, a task which involved him being lifted 144 feet into the air on the rigging equipment. Maurice claims that he was reviewing paperwork for his rig job when he saw a rescue diagram that was made by his supervisor that was racist in nature.

Maurice says that his supervisor had drawn him hanging from the rig yelling “help,” and had drawn other Tranocean employees below him in “pointed Klu Klux Klan hats,” according to the Seattle Times.

The Transocean offshore worker lawsuit claims that Maurice complained to the supervisor because he believed the drawing to be discriminatory. Allegedly, Maurice completed the job “despite fear for his physical safety.”

Maurice also claimed that after he discover the drawing and completed the job on the rig, he was told that he was being considered for a promotion. However, he then allegedly learned later that the supervisor who had made the drawing had influenced the promotion process so that Maurice did not get the promotion, and that a less experienced employee got the promotion instead.

Allegedly, the supervisor who created the drawing was the rig’s only driller. According to the Transocean offshore worker lawsuit, he again confronted the supervisor and expressed that he felt discriminated against because of both the drawing and the fact that he was passed over for a promotion.

Maurice says that when he confronted the supervisor, “the driller initially blocked [Maurice] when [he] tried to walk away from the conversation and then intentionally physically bumped [Maurice’s] shoulder as [Maurice] left the conversation.” Allegedly, after this confrontation, Maurice was sent home early from his assignment on the rig, and has not been called back to work since last July.
Lawyers are now investigating possible cases of discrimination experienced by shipping and cruise line employees. Some offshore workers may experience discrimination like racial and gender discrimination, or sexual assault. Other workers may experience injuries on the job, and may be able to hold their employers accountable for such injuries.