BANGOR, Maine — A Maine-based company that makes COVID-19 test swabs is being sued for allegedly condoning or refusing to stop racial harassment against a Black former employee at a plant that opened during a pandemic production surge.
While working at a Puritan Medical Products facility in Pittsfield, Dupreme Ammonds contends he was subjected to racial insults and references to so-called “Ammonds, who is Black and Hispanic, was singled out by one particular worker who physically assaulted him and who was eventually fired, according to the federal lawsuit filed last week. Ammonds’ manager retaliated against him over the firing and the harassment kept happening, the lawsuit said.
The company’s alleged failure to stop the harassment against the 40-year-old from Hartland “took such a toll on his health that he was left with no choice but to leave his job” in April 2022, said Ryan Schmidt, his attorney.