Turner Construction, an American subsidiary of German contractor Hochtief, temporarily halted work at a Facebook data centre in New Albany, Ohio, after the discovery of racist graffiti at the site.
In an email to GCR, Turner said work was halted to “send a message about how seriously we take this behaviour” and to “provide time for every single person on the site to participate in anti-bias training”.
Work resumed once workers had completed a day-long training exercise that included presentations and discussion on bias, race and racism.
Turner said it maintained “a zero tolerance for racism and hate” and would work with its client, trade partners and unions to “make clear to every person on site how important it is to have a work environment free of racism and hate and where all people feel welcomed and treated with respect”.
Columbus Business First reported that police were called to the site after racist graffiti was found in six portable toilets.
Work on the initial stage of construction was completed in February 2020 according to Facebook, but a two building expansion will make the full facility 230,000 sq m.
Image courtesy of Facebook
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