Greenberg Statement on Employment Discrimination at Philip Morris Tobacco Company, Richmond, VA

Press Release
January 4, 1968

Greenberg Statement on Employment Discrimination at Philip Morris Tobacco Company, Richmond, VA preview

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  • Press Releases, Volume 5. Greenberg Statement on Employment Discrimination at Philip Morris Tobacco Company, Richmond, VA, 1968. 12e10264-b892-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/12a65b7f-0e29-4a99-867f-40e4e00de162/greenberg-statement-on-employment-discrimination-at-philip-morris-tobacco-company-richmond-va. Accessed October 08, 2025.

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    74 

mi 
fn Statement by Jack Greenberg, Director-Counsel 

NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. 
Thursday evening, January 4, 1968. 

Negro workers at Philip Morris Tobacco Company in Richmond 

may now transfer to higher paying jobs, previously reserved for 

whites, without losing years of seniority. 

Negro salaries will now equal those of white workers doing 

comparable jobs. 

Negroes who previously gave up years of seniority in order to 

gain better paying jobs, will now be credited with time forfeited. 

The U.S. District Court ruling today against job practices of 

Philip Morris and Local 203, Tsobacco Workers International, AFL- 

cIo, is the most sweeping and comprehensive employment ruling since 

enactment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Philip Morris and Local 203 must now alter their seniority and 

transfer policies and practices. 

Thus, the court ruled on one of the most complicated issues in 

employment litigation, seniority and transfer procedures. 

This decision will undoubtedly give impetus to our 40 other 

Title VII suits across the South in general and to our pending 

litigation against American Tobacco and P. Lorillard companies in 

particular. 

=30—- 

Released to: 

AP, UPI - Richmond & New York 
THE NEW YORK TIMES

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