Hello,

My name is Jerome Winder, Sr., a 56 year old black man in America, who in October, 2005 was wrongfully terminated from the #1chemical company in the world, Dow. after 24.5 years of service. During Hurricane Katrina I had evacuated my family to San Antonio, Tx., including my elderly parents. I had notified my Production Mgr. and Dow's St. Charles Parish Operations that i would be late returning to work from Texas due to curfews, horrible conditions, etc. in Orleans and Jefferson Parishes. St. Charles Parish, where Dow's SCO is located was not impacted and most employees who live in that area were able to return to work once the plant reopened. After speaking with my mgr. and Dow's HR dept. everything was ok for my late return. However, when I returned to work in mid September, 2005 I was harrassed by a racist Production leader and several disgruntled white employees who the leader had instructed to spy on me. Two weeks after I returned to work the production leader summoned me to his office and attempted to reprimand me for tardiness in returning to work after Katrina, training violations, etc. I was shocked and refused to sign his letter of reprimand. i told him that I was going to report him to Human Resources. The next night he summoned me again and accused me of sleeping on the job, which was reported to him by another white employee he had asked to spy on me. i denied the charge and told him to back off because I was already stressed out by Katrina aftermath, my parents condition, etc. later, a white female employee, warned me that the production leader had ask her about my whereabouts on the job,etc. she also told me that this racist leader had recruited several other whites to watch my every mood. I then , fearing for my job, my livelyhood, called The Dow Ethics Hotline and filed harrassment charges. They stated that this investigation would take several weeks. i told them that if they didn't act quickly, I would possibly be fired or something. The amount of pressure I was under was unbearable. In retaliation, the production leader had me fired less than 1 week after I filed charges against him. This leader had fired another black male employee, 1 yr prior. Several black employees were fired by Dow for reasons that were invalid. Several white employees who committed life threatening events are still employed ther. Just recently, it was reported to me that there was a castostraphic event where 2 contractors were burned over 50% of their bodies. The Dow employees who were responsible fot this area are still employed. i filed an EEOC complaint against Dow and this leader after my termination in October, 2005. i was issued a "right to suit" letter by the EEOC and have filed a Federal Lawsuit Dow Chemical/Union Carbide. My case is pending. I wish that CNN during it's " Being Black In America" report could investigated this plant in Hahnville. La.. The parish where this plant is located (St. Charles), has a past history of racism. The Gary Tyler story, etc.