A Mississippi businessman running for election as the next DeSoto County Supervisor has been hit with a lawsuit that alleges he treated employees unfairly based on their race.
Kendall Prewett is being sued by three former employees of his family business, Prewett Enterprises, Fox 13 reported Saturday. The lawsuit, which was filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Memphis, Mississippi, alleges the construction company violated Title VII under the Civil Rights Act and subjected the three Black male workers to unequal employment.
In the filing, one plaintiff claims Prewett asked, “Are you Whoopi Goldberg? Why do all you black people have to have dreads?”
Among the men listed in the filing is Sirell Scott, who began working for Prewett, whose candidate Facebook page displays a photo alongside President Donald Trump, in 2014.
The suit states that “when Scott was working, Kendall Prewett told him to remove drums filled with hazardous materials from the bed of a truck.”
The document continues by saying when Scott is said to have informed Prewett, whose candidate page also claims he was the regional coordinator and campaign committee member for the Trump presidential campaign, that the worker did not have gloves, the hopeful District 4 supervisor replied, “you been working in a plantation boy.”
But there’s more. A separate allegation from Scott claims Prewett told him, “I can put you in the fry tank (which held hazardous material and smelled bad) because y’all used to sleep with the pigs.”
There was another case where Scott allegedly asked why the company took money from a Black employee’s paycheck for scratches on a truck. When the question came up, Prewett is accused of answering, “N—er, shut the f–k up.”
Scott spoke to the news station but he did not want to speak on camera, fearing that it could negatively affect his case, which is expected to be tried in September. The Republican primary will be held on August 6.
The outlet also attempted to reach out to Prewett, but they failed to reach him. However, the political candidate has since responded on Facebook. He said in a July 27 post aimed at local media, “The Local News Channels calling me a Racist Mrs. Linda fishing on Prewett Can Do it! Pond for several years we all bleed RED GET UR FACTS Straight Channel 3,13,24.”
The post was accompanied by a photo of him posing with a woman who appears to be Black alongside what looks to be her children. Everyone is all smiles as they give a thumbs-up toward the camera.
In another post made Sunday, he also said he was “couldn’t agree more” with Southaven, Mississippi, Mayor Darren Musselwhite, who said he was through with Memphis, Mississippi, outlets.
“I, too, have lost all credibility for the liberal Memphis networks, just like CNN (not sure they had any). Such terrible, fake news. The good news is, their FAKE NEWS is slowing dying,” Prewett said.
Meanwhile, the Trump Campaign stated to Fox 13 there is no record of Prewett working for them.
