A Black, Disabled Truck Driver Says He Faced Years of Harassment. Now It’s Going to Trial

A disabled Black truck driver who said he was subjected to years of racial slurs, mockery and a hostile work environment at the cement company Cemex’s East Bay plants — and then fired after he repeatedly raised his concerns — is having his complaint heard in federal court in San Francisco.

Opening statements began on Monday before Judge William H. Orrick in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Joseph Sample Jr., who worked as a ready-mix truck driver at company plants in Antioch and Concord, is seeking $15 million in damages from Cemex, one of the largest cement and building materials companies in the world, with nine ready-mix concrete plants in the Bay Area.

Sample’s attorney, Adante Pointer, told jurors the evidence would show a pattern of unchecked harassment that lasted more than five years and a company that failed to act on it.

“The evidence will show Cemex Corporation permitted its workers to harass my client because of his disability and race … and did nothing to protect him,” Pointer said in his opening statement. “You are going to hear evidence right here on this witness stand that Mr. Sample’s coworkers called him the N-word, monkey, retarded and other despicable names.”

Pointer told jurors that Sample was born with a disability affecting one ear, leaving him hard to understand at times, and that he walked with a limp. Despite that, Pointer said, Sample took tremendous pride in his work — a pride that was eroded as harassment intensified.

“His mother asked what was going on,” Pointer said. “You will learn that he told his mom that what was once his dream job had turned into a nightmare.”

Pointer also told jurors that Sample filed his first lawsuit in January 2023 without an attorney — and that even after he did, Cemex’s human resources department never interviewed him or opened an investigation.

Cemex’s attorney, Dorothy Liu, disputed the allegations in her own opening statement, arguing that the company’s full record tells a different story.

“At no time did Mr. Sample or anyone on his behalf report racial slurs … being used in the workplace,” Liu said, adding that there are three ways employees can formally report such conduct at Cemex and that Sample used none to raise complaints of slurs or derogatory language. “We had no idea before he filed this lawsuit.”

Liu walked jurors through a timeline she said shows the conflict at the center of the case stemmed from workplace safety disputes and personality clashes — not racial or disability-based discrimination. She said Cemex granted Sample multiple leaves of absence that were not required to provide, and added that when coworkers raised concerns, it was over safety issues, not harassment.

Liu pointed to a March 2022 workplace accident in which she said Sample ran a red light with a mixer truck, and she said coworkers reported feeling unsafe around him over on-the-job safety disputes.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

The first witness to take the stand was Thomas Milano, a former Cemex driver and trainer of 23 years, who said he trained Sample around 2017 and 2018, and later became a close friend. Milano testified that he began hearing coworkers refer to Sample as “the retard” in break rooms at both the Antioch and Concord plants, on multiple occasions, from multiple drivers.

“Much of the conversation about Joseph was: ‘Where’s the retard?’” Milano said. “He seemed to be the entertainment.”

Milano said he personally reported what he observed to an HR representative and plant supervisor named in the lawsuit, telling them explicitly that Sample was experiencing a hostile work environment and should be transferred to the Concord yard.

“I told her this was a hostile work environment for the guy. I said, this is a hostile work environment, he is being harassed,” Milano said, adding that he used those words exactly.

When Pointer asked whether anyone from Cemex’s HR department ever followed up or interviewed Milano after his reports, Milano said no.

“I did it because I was his friend. I did it because I was his coworker. I did it because I was a shop steward. I did it because it was the right thing to do,” Milano said. “You see harassment, you report it.”

The trial is expected to continue in the coming days with additional witness testimony. Cemex disputes that Sample was subjected to unlawful harassment or discrimination.