Assemblers Class Action Says Company Discriminates Against Black People

An Illinois worker has filed a class action lawsuit against Assemblers and a staffing agency, asserting the two engaged in racial discrimination.

Plaintiff Kieona Knighten says she sought out employment through Total Staffing Solutions, and though there were positions available at Assemblers Inc., she was wrongly denied placements. In her eyes, this was because the staffing agency had complied with a racist request by Assemblers to not send Black workers to the facility.

Knighten notes that she, like many other workers, did not seek out employment at Assemblers specifically. Instead, they sought work at a range of potential employers and were then placed in assignments by Total Staffing. Allegedly, one of the places that had availabilities for work assignments was Assemblers’ Bedford plant. 

Knighten says that years later, she was finally given work at Assemblers, but still suffered discrimination. She says that during her time there, she was denied any tasks that could help qualify her for a permanent position at the manufacturing company. Though she asked for these tasks, they were reportedly given to non-Black workers instead. Allegedly, the work was sometimes given to non-Black workers who had significantly less experience than Knighten.

The Total Staffing class action lawsuit states that other non-Black workers informed Knighten that when she had requested work but was denied and told that no work was available, there actually were positions available that were given to non-Black workers.

She says in some instances, she was told that she would not be assigned certain tasks because she had not done them before, when that was not true. In one instance, a non-Black worker was offered a role that involved gluing. Knighten says she noted to the supervisor that she was available to fill that role, but was not given it. Allegedly, the manager said that she would not be given the role because she had no experience gluing, but Knighten informed her that she had performed gluing just the week before. 

When she was working for Assemblers during her assignments, she asked if she could be hired permanently. She was directed by an Assemblers employee to apply through a staffing agency instead of directly through the company. 

Knighten alleges that she regularly asked representatives both from Assemblers and Total Staffing if there were any permanent positions available, but was regularly told there were no positions available. However, the Total Staffing class action lawsuit asserts that this was not the case, because there were positions available.

To support this claim, Knighten notes that multiple non-Black workers had their roles converted from temporary to permanent positions, but no Black workers had their roles converted to permanent positions. She says some non-Black workers had their positions converted to indefinite roles, despite not having any previous experience. She stresses that she had previous experience. 

According to Knighten, she was among a group of Black workers who could have been assigned work at Assemblers, but were denied because of their race. Allegedly this conduct violated the Civil Rights Act, because it was an act of racial discrimination. The Assemblers staffing class action lawsuit states that the conduct also violated the Illinois Day and Temporary Labor Services Act.

The Assemblers, Total Staffing racist policy class action lawsuit states that Knighten seeks to represent not only herself, but a group of all similarly affected Black workers. She seeks to represent all Black workers who sought employment at Assemblers through Total Staffing, and were eligible for permanent positions at the Bedford Park Assemblers facility since July 2017.

According to Knighten, these workers were discriminated against and financially injured, as they were denied work that they were otherwise qualified for.

In addition to damages, Knighten seeks an injunction barring Assemblers and Total Staffing from continuing to discriminate on the basis of race in their hiring, placement and promotion decisions.

Have you experienced discrimination in your workplace? Share your experiences in the comments section below.

Kieona Knighten is represented by Christopher Williams of the National Legal Advocacy Network and Mark Birhanu and Maria Huber of Raise the Floor Alliance.

The Assemblers Staffing Racial Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Kieona Knighten v. Assemblers Inc., et al., Case No. 1:20-cv-03942, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

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