Ex-Worker Suing North Carolina’s Butterball for Discrimination

A federal anti-discrimination lawsuit accuses North Carolina-based Butterball of firing an HIV-positive employee after she repeatedly reported co-workers for harassing her.

Tracy Montgomery processed turkey parts at Butterball’s Kinston plant for about five weeks in 2009. The News & Observer of Raleigh reports the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleges that Tracy Montgomery complained frequently to her supervisors that her colleagues mocked and humiliated her during her employment.

The suit says a co-worker threatened to get a gun from her car and shoot Montgomery, who was fired when the company blamed her for causing disruption in the workplace.

Butterball officials declined to comment about the lawsuit. The company has its headquarters in Garner and produces more than 1 billion pounds of turkey each year.