Administrative Law Judge Beth Scheetz had originally approved Diers's request for aid, saying that derogatory comments about "blacks and foreigners" were commonplace at the commercial washer and dryer manufacturing plant where Diers worked.
“Since President Trump’s election, it was common for workers to talk about hating blacks or hating foreigners,” Scheetz wrote in her ruling. “If management wishes all workers to be treated with respect, it must enforce respectful treatment amongst co-workers and supervisors, and apply those expectations consistently throughout the chain of command."
Diers testified at her unemployment hearing that she was frustrated by a co-worker “dancing and singing Mexican” early in the morning before Cinco de Mayo. Diers acknowledged that she hated "f---ing Mexicans" in front of several coworkers.
The newspaper reported that Diers later tried to clarify that she meant she only hated “illegal Mexicans.”
“We talk about everything out on the floor — whether it’s the president or the vice president,” Diers testified. “There has been talk on the floor: Some people don’t like blacks, certain people don’t like Mexicans, certain people don’t like foreigners. We talk, and then we just move on.”
Diers reportedly told Scheetz that rhetoric against African-Americans and immigrants intensified since Trump took office.
“There was a lot of controversy out on the floor during the presidential election,” she testified.
