Former employees sue 3M, alleging discrimination at South Dakota plant

Several former employees have sued 3M over racial discrimination and retaliation they allege occurred while working at the company's manufacturing plant in Aberdeen, S.D.

The cases all center around the experience of John Wingo, a Black man who says he was harassed, threatened and assaulted by coworkers, repeatedly passed over for training and promotions, and later fired after managers did not address his concerns.

"Instead of dealing with the harassing and threatening conduct, 3M supervisors retaliated against Wingo for bringing these issues to their attention," the federal lawsuit states. "The supervisors did not fix the racial harassing issues, and instead focused their attention on Wingo, making work even harder for him."

Maplewood-based 3M responded in a court filing the company "has at all times acted in good faith and with the honest belief that its conduct was in compliance with federal and state civil rights statutes."

"John Wingo's allegations involved two individuals with whom he had a personal financial dispute arising outside of work. These individuals had competing allegations and accused John Wingo of harassment," the company said in a statement. "3M has investigated the allegations brought by all of these individuals, including the plaintiffs and others, and continuously works to promote safe and respectful workplaces at all of our sites, including our site in Aberdeen."

Wingo's case, which was filed last year along with several other lawsuits relating to his claims, is scheduled for trial next summer. The lawsuits are seeking unspecified damages.

In a separate lawsuit, lawyers for Desiree Holler say she was "disciplined for reporting the discriminatory conduct" against Wingo.

Titus Kargbo said he was retaliated against — given an unfavorable reassignment — after reporting that he "witnessed Wingo being harassed and called racial slurs on many occasions," according to his complaint.

Wingo's brother, Vaughn Wingo, was trying to move from contract worker to employee but "was told by a supervisor that 3M would not make him permanent 'because he was Black,'" the suit says.

John Wingo's lawsuit alleges that over a period of three years coworkers harassed and assaulted him outside of work as well as calling him the N-word and threatening him on-site during work hours.

"Wingo's supervisors were aware of these incidents," the suit says. "They did not address the issues, instead leaving Wingo to fend for himself."

The suit alleges Wingo was fired in October 2021 for filling out paperwork needed for an injury-related accommodation during work hours.

In May, the president of the NAACP Minnesota/Dakotas Area State Chapter submitted a letter of support for Wingo.

"We certainly believe that Mr. Wingo deserves to have his concerns fully considered through due process," W.C. Jordan Jr. wrote.

Wingo and others recently sought to make changes to their depositions, setting up a clash over the facts of the case.

3M's lawyers wrote Wingo "baldly seeks to withdraw unfavorable testimony, bolster credibility ... and add favorable testimony in the style of a take-home examination."

Last week a judge rejected many of the changes, writing each of those rejected "substantially changes the testimony."