The corporation

owning a Peachtree City electronics plant is being sued in federal court

for allegations of racial discrimination in how it awards promotions to

employees.

Matsushita

Communications Industrial Corporation, which manufactures Panasonic products,

is being sued by three current employees and one former employee. The

suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Newnan, alleges that each man was

passed over several times for promotions in favor of a white worker who

was less qualified than they were.

Matsushita

employees Frederick Butler, Regie Stevens, Mohammed Warsame and ex-employee

Thomas Green are seeking to have the suit elevated to class-action status.

In December,

the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission found "reasonable cause

to believe black employees were discriminated against because of their

race with regard to promotional opportunities at or above the level of

Technician A," the suit states.

The employees

also allege that the company did not post all available positions, a tactic

that was used to promote white employees over more qualified African-American

applicants.

"Even

when the positions were posted, white managers often 'pre-select' white

employees to fill open positions," the suit alleges.

The employees

hope to recover back pay, front pay along with compensatory and punitive

damages.

The suit claims

the discriminatory practices began coming to light in 1995 when several

employees didn't receive promotions they applied for. At least two of

the defendants complained about the perceived discrimination against African

American employees and those employees were retaliated against, the suit

states.

In the suit,

Butler claims he was also paid between $10,000 and $15,000 less than a

white employee in the same position who had the same degree from the same

school.

Even after

Butler was promoted to associate engineer, he was still paid approximately

$2,500 below normal starting pay given to white entry level associate

engineers, the suit alleges.

Green was not

promoted at all during his eight years with the company, according to

the suit. Stevens was promoted only once in his 10 years of employment,

the suit states.

Warsame alleges

in the suit that black employees were written up for safety violations

and tardiness while other white workers were not cited for similar violations.