Brown Announces Roundtable on Noose Incident at Ballpark

Brown convened meeting at new ballpark today to probe incident

(Washington, DC) – Today, At-Large Councilmember Kwame R. Brown, Chair of the Committee on Economic Development, convened a meeting at the new Nationals’ Stadium to address the discovery of a noose in a break room at the ballpark. Brown learned of the incident yesterday and began a committee probe by convening a meeting with the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, master developer Clark/Hunt/Smoot, and Truland Systems Corporation.

“Discrimination and hate crimes of any kind are absolutely intolerable,” said Brown. “The District should take strong action when taxpayers’ money is involved. The District must do whatever is in its power to prevent companies with a proven pattern of discrimination and inadequate diversity training from doing business with the city. I’m frustrated by the lack of answers coming from Truland and want accountability for the discriminatory practices which have taken place on the worksite.”

Officials at the meeting confirmed that two employees involved in the incident have been fired. Clark/Hunt/Smoot reported that they are planning to conduct individualized trainings with every foreman and work crew at the Stadium.

Committee on Economic Development Public Oversight Roundtable

The Committee on Economic Development will hold a Public Oversight Roundtable for Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. in room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. The intent of the roundtable is to probe the circumstances surrounding the noose incident and provide insight into actions that will be taken to ensure prevention and accountability.

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