LDF Sues Makers of Kent Cigarettes for Job Bias

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- Press Releases
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- LDF
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- 3109101b-b792-ee11-be37-00224827e97b

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Press Releases, Volume 4. LDF Sues Makers of Kent Cigarettes for Job Bias, 1966. 3109101b-b792-ee11-be37-00224827e97b. LDF Archives, Thurgood Marshall Institute. https://ldfrecollection.org/archives/archives-search/archives-item/4f6e865f-145a-47bb-97c6-b18501fffd04/ldf-sues-makers-of-kent-cigarettes-for-job-bias. Accessed November 23, 2025.

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    10 Columbus Circle 2 
New York, N.Y. 10019 z 
JUdson 6-8397 

NAACP 

ee Defense and Educational ya tind 
PRESS RELEASE ; 

NS
 

4 jh By President Pe " > to, 

f Hon. Francis E. Rivers pans 
a Director-Counsel FOR, RELEASE» . 

am Jack Greenberg SATURDAY 
August 6," a 

rs 

LDF SUES MAKERS OF 
KENT CIGARETTES 
FOR JOB BIAS 

GREENSBORO, N. C.---The NAACP Legal Defense Fund this week filed 

suit, in behalf of Negro women employees, against the P. Lorillard 

Company (Kent Cigarettes). 

The request for a permanent injunction due to alleged 

discriminatory practices, was also filed against the TobaccoWorkers 

International AFL-CIO and the Tobacco Workers International Union, 

AFL-CIO, Local 317. 

Suit was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Middle 

District of North Carolina. 

Negro employees, the Legal Defense Fund's complaint 

asserts, "Have been hired for menial and low paying jobs solely 

on basis of race and color. 

Matters regarding salary, terms of employment conditions 

and privileges “have been governed and controlled by collective 

bargaining agreements entered into by defendants P, Lorillard 

and the Union," the complaint asserts. 

Following discussions with the President's Committee on 

Equal Job Opportunities, P. Lorillard instituted department seniority 

provisions dividing employees into nine different job categories. 

If Negroes leave the blending and services department, 

which attorneys describe as being “one step above sweeping," they 

lose seniority, hence theyare confined to the same positions. 

The Legal Defense Fund suit followed a complaint with 

the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under Title VIL of. the 

1966 Civil Rights Act. 

poas) 
SGete 

Jesse DeVore, Jr., Director of Public Information—Night Number 212 Riverside 9-8487 Sa

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LDF Sues Makers of Kent Cigarettes for Job Bias

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