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Ford manufacturing plant coming under fire for a hostile atmosphere


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The Ford manufacturing plant in Chicago has been notorious for having a hostile work environment for minorities in the past, and the situation there hasn't improved in recent years.

A new story from the New York Times details just how bad the sexual and racial harassment has been at the plant, and this is after a $10 million settlement with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in August.

The newest story claims that employees would chant "fresh meat" at new female employees, and supervisors would trade better jobs for sex. There are stories of racial slurs, men groping female employees and countless stories of racial and sexual harassment.

Related: Ford makes another move that's sure to infuriate the White House

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The plant has about 5,700 employees, and a third of those are women. Sharon Dunn, who sued the company two decades ago, said Ford basically did nothing to stop the inappropriate behavior.

"For all the good that was supposed to come out of what happened to us, it seems like Ford did nothing," Dunn said. "If I had that choice today, I wouldn't say a damn word."

Kelli Felker, Ford's manager of manufacturing and labor communications, told AutoBlog the company doesn't tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination.

"Ford does not tolerate sexual harassment or discrimination. We take those claims very seriously and investigate them thoroughly."

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But after countless reports of misconduct, it's clear that Ford has a major problem on its hands at its Chicago plant, and it's one that needs to be addressed and fixed immediately.