Jury rules against United Dairy Farmers in third discrimination suit

COLUMBUS — A jury's verdict that United Dairy Farmers discriminated against black workers and fostered a hostile work environment is monumental, an attorney for three women who made the accusations said Wednesday.

The verdict on Tuesday was the first against the Cincinnati-based convenience-store chain in three racial-discrimination trials in U.S. District Court over the past 18 months.

Three former employees and two people who claimed they were denied employment because they are black sued UDF, seeking $1.1 million in damages.

The jury of seven whites and one black awarded a total of $104,000 to the three former employees. Jurors ruled in favor of UDF against the two who claimed they were denied jobs.

Attorneys for UDF, which operates stores in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky, said an appeal was likely.