Construction worker suing Microsoft, Skanska, Balfour Beatty for racial discrimination

REDMOND, Wash. — A construction worker is suing Microsoft and construction companies Skanska and Balfour Beatty for discrimination.

The case was just filed in federal court.

KIRO 7 reporter Deedee Sun first reported about the discrimination allegations in October 2021.

Quinte Harris — who was working on the Microsoft campus remodel project — said a supervisor expressed that he did not like Black people.

Additionally, Harris said that after an unrelated “safe from hate” meeting, someone left a sign on his work cart that said “NOT a safe zone sorry.”

The lawsuit says that since speaking out, Harris has faced further retaliation and has been fired, which has deeply impacted his life.

His attorney calls the racism “egregious.”

“First thing I feel deep inside is a sense of shame that this is allowed to happen — you know in our lifetime — a sense of duty, a sense of we can’t be quiet, we need to speak, we need to shout, we need to — that this should not be allowed to happen,” said Harris’ attorney, Caroline Janzen.

KIRO 7 reached out to Skanska and Microsoft for comment.

A Microsoft spokesperson released the following statement:

“Workplace discrimination and harassment are unacceptable. While Microsoft neither employed nor supervised Mr. Harris and his colleagues, we are working with his employer to understand what happened.”

So far, KIRO 7 has not received a response from Skanska.

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