Racial Harassment Rife at USC Construction Site, EEOC Alleges

Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co. subjected Black and Hispanic/Mexican workers on a University of Southern California site to widespread harassment based on their race or national origin and retaliated when they complained, the EEOC alleges in a federal lawsuit.

The abuse occurred while the workers were helping out on the U.S.C. Village Redevelopment Project, for which Hathaway Dinwiddie served as the general contractor. The workers were either directly employed by Hathaway or by one of the project’s various contractors or subcontractors, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a complaint filed Tuesday.

That made Hathaway either their direct employer or their ...