Offshore worker files fed lawsuit

NEW ORLEANS - Maurice Wilson of Morton, Miss., an African-American offshore oil worker, has filed a federal lawsuit here claiming intimidation and discrimination on the job by a supervisor who drew a picture of the worker dangling from a high rig structure while surrounded by co-workers in Ku Klux Klan-like pointy hats. The lawsuit claims Wilson was denied a promotion after complaining about the drawing. The suit also claims Wilson was removed from the rig off Louisiana's coast and sent home early from his assignment, and has not been called back to work since last July. He began work in May 2017. The suit seeks unspecified damages from Transocean Offshore Deepwater Drilling for failing to provide a safe workplace free from racial discrimination. The suit accuses Transocean of negligence for failure to provide a safe workplace free of "overt racial discrimination." Transocean declined comment May 23 and has not filed a response in court. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Lance Africk. (Source: The Associated Press 05/23/18)