FEDERAL LAWSUIT Court to decide Lockheed liability in shootings

In 2003, a white employee shot 14 people; four of the five he killed were black.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Alvin Collier remembers the bloody shooting spree at the Lockheed Martin Corp. plant each time he has to tie his shoes without the two fingers that were blasted off his hand.
For Bobby McCall, that summer day was the last time he saw his wife of 26 years.
It was July 8, 2003, when Lockheed worker Doug Williams left a diversity training class at the Meridian plant that makes airplane components, and returned with a 12-gauge shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle. He killed Lynette McCall and four others and wounded eight, including Collier, before taking his own life.
Williams, who the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission described as having created a "racially charged atmosphere" at the plant, was white; four of the dead were black, while a majority of the wounded were white. Nearly two years after the shootings, a federal lawsuit filed by Collier and the families of two of the dead contends Lockheed knew of Williams' views and should have taken steps to prevent the shootings.
"My wife and I talked about it on a daily basis," said McCall, a plaintiff. "The thing about this was, [Williams] was up front. Everybody knew what his plan was."
Lockheed response
Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed, the nation's biggest defense contractor, said its management had no way of knowing that Williams would go on a shooting spree, and it denied there was a connection between the shootings and Williams' views.
"The shooting at the Meridian facility, whose victims were not limited to any one racial group, was a senseless tragedy to all who were affected by it," company spokesman Thomas Greer said in a prepared statement to The Associated Press.
But the plaintiffs are likely to cite the EEOC's July 2004 report on the shooting when they make their case.
"[Lockheed] was aware of the severity and extent of the racially charged and hostile environment created by Mr. Williams, which included threats to kill African-American employees," the determination by the EEOC's Jackson office said. "[Lockheed's] reaction to those threats against African American employees was inadequate and permitted the racially charged atmosphere to grow in intensity."
Williams, who had worked at the plant for almost 20 years, roamed through the factory on July 8, 2003, firing at co-workers. Collier, who was wounded in the back and arm and lost two fingers, said Lockheed managers should have dealt with Williams before his hatred boiled over.
"The warning signs were there," Collier said. "The company themselves refused to act on it."
Attorney Clayton Davie of Alabama, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Collier, the McCalls and the family of another dead worker, said Lockheed had sent an official from the Marietta, Ga. plant to address the problems in Meridian. Williams was forced to take an anger management class in addition to the mandatory diversity training program, he said.
Still, Davie said, Williams continued his harassment of black co-workers.
Other plants
Concerns about the treatment of Lockheed workers have not been limited to the Meridian plant. In May 2000, attorney Johnnie Cochran and other attorneys sought class-action status for workers at a Lockheed plant in Marietta, Ga. Cochran claimed black workers had routinely been denied civil liberties.
In its statement, Lockheed countered that "the U.S. District Court in Atlanta denied class certification and the individual discrimination complaints [in the Georgia case] were subsequently dismissed by the court."
Davie said there was a settlement between Lockheed and the workers, a copy of which he was trying to obtain.
At least 21/2 years before Williams' shooting spree, Bernice Kimbrough-Williams, director of EEOC's Atlanta District Office, said that by allowing "blatantly racist behavior to continue, Lockheed has created an atmosphere of intimidation, where management has gone unchecked in denying equal employment opportunities based on race."
Lockheed officials again disagree.
"Neither race discrimination -- nor any other type of unlawful discrimination -- is a widespread problem within the corporation," the company said. "Lockheed Martin takes discrimination and harassment seriously and neither is tolerated."
Lockheed Martin employs more than 130,000 people at 939 facilities in 457 cities. The case, if it goes against Lockheed, could prompt other companies to examine their safety policies with workplace attacks being the third leading cause of occupational death in the United States, said Bob Ross, assistant regional administrator for enforcement programs for the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
"It is the employers' responsibility to provide a safe and healthful workplace for all its employees," he said. "Training and education is the most important thing."