AJustCause

Investigation Indicates Ball Metalpack Abused and Discriminated Against African American Female Executive.

​

TV reporting shows that racial bias and abuse of power were at the heart of the deaths of George Floyd and Rayshard Brooks and proved that black lives didn’t matter to corrupt police officers.  “Corruption, racial bias and abuse of power doesn’t only exist in our criminal justice system. But as we found out in conducting an investigation into the wrongful termination of Tanique Wright a former Black female executive of Ball Metalpack, it also exists in corporate America,” says Lamont Banks, Executive Director of A Just Cause.

​

In April 2020, A Just Cause reported how Ball Metalpack suddenly fired Ms. Wright, their Director of Talent Management during the COVID-19 pandemic after she applied for short-term disability and the Family Medical Leave Act (FLMA) following a massive stroke (https://www.a-justcause.com/wrightvsballmetalpack).

​

After digging deeper into Wright’s firing, A Just Cause has found disturbing details of Ball Metalpack’s cruelty and insensitivity to Ms. Wright’s health, including Colleen Callies (Director of HR Operations for Ball Metalpack) telling Ms. Wright that she was being fired just six hours after leaving the emergency room and pressuring her not to sue.  Corporate records show that Ball Metalpack deducted health insurance payments from Ms. Wrights last check, but then stopped her benefits after terminating her on March 27 following her stroke and attempt to receive short-term disability and FMLA benefits.  A Just Cause also uncovered evidence of racial bias by the company.

 

Ms. Wright, as the only African American Director in the company, was not only the lowest paid Director but made significantly less than her white peers. When hired in April of 2019, Ms. Wright was only given 2 weeks of vacation as a director while her “white director” peers were given between 3-4 weeks of vacation when they were hired.

​

Ball Metalpack wasted no time terminating Ms. Wright, so they would not be financially responsible for paying any further medical expenses incurred because of her suffering a massive stroke. And they continued to maneuver the FMLA system to further their abuse against Ms. Wright. This is illegal. Moreover, Ms. Wright was given 5 days to review her separation agreement while her white peer Kim Christopherson, previous Director of Total Rewards who was terminated in Jan 2020, was given 3 weeks to review plus additional time after experiencing an accident.

 

According to Ms. Wright, she was under a tremendous amount of stress from the ongoing discriminatory practices of Ball Metalpack and is sure the company’s abusive and discriminatory treatment of her contributed greatly to her stroke.

  

“During the most difficult time of Ms. Wright’s life after having a stoke, Ball Metalpack doubled-down on their abusive, discriminatory treatment of her, when they further devalued her life by callously terminating her and shamefully leaving her without income and health insurance, so they could save a few bucks,” adds Banks. “I can’t think of anything more dishonorable. I am pleased that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has contacted Ball MetalPack for their discriminatory and inhumane abuses toward Ms.Wright,” concludes Banks.

​

Contact Information:

 

Lamont Banks

Executive Director

A Just Cause

(855) 529-4252 ext. 710

lbanks@a-justcause.com