ST. LOUIS — Two Black women are suing the Boeing Co. in St. Louis County, alleging their former employer racially discriminated against them.
The women, who worked as accountants, also accused the company of maintaining a hostile work environment and of workplace retaliation in separate lawsuits filed Tuesday.
Representatives for Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Both women, Courtney Speed and Tionne Wurtz, worked in Boeing’s accounts receivable department, according to their Richmond Heights-based attorney, Benjamin Kates.
Speed’s suit says she began working for Boeing in St. Louis County in 2017 and received positive feedback, praise and raises before she was transferred to the accounts receivable department in 2023.
Wurtz was hired by Boeing in St. Louis County in September 2023 as an accountant, her suit says.
Both lawsuits say an unnamed manager and team lead “were and are prejudiced against African Americans and people of color.”
Both women alleged their manager unfairly scrutinized their work and that of other employees of color, “resulting in the termination of at least three other Boeing employees of color.”
Wurtz and Speed also said they were given an annual raise “that was significantly less than other Caucasian employees that were performing the same work” and had the same experience.
Both alleged white employees had more lenient working conditions.
And while Speed and Wurtz were required to complete a daily activity log, the lawsuits said white workers weren’t required to provide the same logs as frequently or at all.
Wurtz said the manager unfairly scrutinized her daily time log, accusing her of stealing time.
“However, she never accused Caucasian employees of stealing time even though they took extended lunch breaks or breaks to take walks in the afternoon,” Wurtz’s lawsuit said.
White workers were allowed to openly ask the team lead and manager questions, but when Speed and Wurtz asked questions, the manager accused them of not working independently, the lawsuits said.
Speed said that after she was assigned new tasks in November 2023, she didn’t get training or access to necessary systems to complete them. White employees were offered one-on-one training, the lawsuit said.
Wurtz’s suit makes a similar allegation. She said she initially received positive feedback for her work but then received escalating discipline. She made an internal ethics complaint in January 2024, about her manager’s “unfair and discriminatory treatment” of herself and other employees of color.
Wurtz said the manager knew about the ethics complaint. Both women’s suits state they were fired on April 8, 2024.
Speed said she was fired after returning from medical leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act; her manager never reassigned duties despite promising otherwise. Speed says she received disciplinary actions for falling behind on her duties. Her work improved despite the lack of one-on-one training, the suit says, but she was still fired.
Both women asked for jury trials. Each is seeking $75,000 in damages, plus additional compensation for lost wages and benefits, emotional injuries, and punitive damages.
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Jack Suntrup | Post-Dispatch
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