In federal court yesterday, a jury ruled that Whirlpool Corp. was not guilty of tolerating a climate of racism at a local factory.

The trial, which lasted through much of last week, centered on Treva Nickens, a white employee of the now-closed LaVergne Whirlpool plant. Nickens claimed in her lawsuit that the company was liable for “associational harassment.” 

Nickens claimed in her suit that, after she defended her black co-workers and agreed to testify on their behalf in a previous harassment case filed against the company, she herself became the target of harassment.

In previous cases, black employees of the plant had made allegations about the regular use of racial epithets and offensive graffiti, being passed over for promotions, and eventually, becoming the target of retaliatory firings. A full copy of that complaint, originally filed in 2006, is available here.

Kevin Sharp, of Drescher & Sharp, was Nickens’ local representation alongside attorneys from New York and Washington, D.C. Whirlpool was represented locally by Tim Garrett of Bass Berry & Sims.

Of the outcome in the case – one of the first of its kind – Garrett said, “We are obviously gratified by the jury’s verdict.”