DOCUMENT: Sports

NASCAR Hit With Racism, Sexism Claims

Fired black worker files scathing $225 million discrimination lawsuit

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NASCAR Hit With Racism, Sexism Claims

JUNE 10--In a blistering lawsuit charging racial and sexual harassment, a former NASCAR official alleges that she was fired last year after complaining about 'virulently racist harassment, a racially hostile work environment and insidious and pervasive race discrimination reflective of a former, uglier era in our nation's history.'

Mauricia Grant, who worked as a 'technical inspector' on NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series, alleges that she was called a series of degrading names (such as 'Nappy Headed Mo,' 'Queen Sheba,' and 'Simpleton') and subjected to racist stereotypes, such as being told she worked 'on Colored People Time' if she arrived late. An excerpt of Grant's 40-page lawsuit, filed today in U.S. District Court in New York, can be found here.

For more than 20 pages, Grant's $225 million lawsuit details allegedly obscene e-mails, text messages, and racist and sexist comments directed at her. Grant, pictured at right, was NASCAR's only black female official when she was hired in January 2005.

Grant, who earned about $30,000 and traveled to tracks nationwide, was responsible for examining racecars to ensure their compliance with NASCAR rules. Grant contends that she has suffered 'severe emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, nightmares, sleep disturbance, crying jags, and physical injury' as a result of the harassment directed at her by NASCAR co-workers and supervisors. (24 pages)