Court: Texas company unfair to black workers

LUFKIN, Texas (AP) — More than a thousand current and former black employees of one Texas company stand to divvy up $5.5 million in back pay and interest as compensation for what a federal judge has called unlawful discrimination in awarding promotions.

Lufkin Industries Inc. employs about 1,200 people in Lufkin, making many of the pumps that dot the world's oil fields.

Black workers say in a class action lawsuit that the company channeled them into its foundry, where conditions were harshest, and unfairly denied them promotions.

Former worker Buford Thomas says signs designating "black" and "white" showers remained in one plant into the 1990s.

While each worker will get a relatively modest sum, those who brought the lawsuit see the award as validation of their struggle for equality.