A former General Mills employee in Minnesota has filed a lawsuit accusing the food giant of racial discrimination and retaliation after he was fired earlier this year for objecting to Black History Month flyers in the workplace that he said trivialized racial violence.
L. Lee Tyus Jr., who had worked at General Mills’ St. Paul facility since 2019, said the company posted flyers in the breakroom in February 2025 titled “Fun Facts About Black History.”
The flyers at the heart of the controversy were decorated in red, black, and green — the colors of the Pan-African flag — and included summaries of historical atrocities such as the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the Black Codes that restricted the rights of formerly enslaved people during Reconstruction.
The flyers had labeled deeply painful episodes of Black history as “fun facts,” which was an insult in and of itself, given the brutal and traumatic nature of what took place.
The attack on “Black Wall Street,” for instance, was one of the deadliest acts of racial violence in U.S. history. More than 100 years ago, a white mob attacked the prosperous Black neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma, killing an estimated 100 to 300 Black residents, destroying more than 1,000 homes, and leveling dozens of Black-owned businesses.
The flyers struck Tyus as both tone-deaf and dehumanizing, later prompting him to file the state-level civil action, citing violations of the Minnesota Human Rights Act.
Tyus, who is Black, said he found the flyers deeply painful and offensive and questioned whether horrors and abuses against white Americans would be posted and shared in the same way. According to the complaint filed June 27 in Hennepin County District Court, Tyus approached the plant’s HR manager about his concerns, but the person didn’t take him seriously. Tyus claims he was told that flyers with horror stories about white people “would just be labeled ‘American Tragedies’” instead of fun facts.
Tyus later addressed the issue directly with both the plant manager and his team lead. The lawsuit says he explained how the flyers had caused him emotional distress, prompting him to use paid time off.
“Much like the massacre[,] I wish this didn’t happen and I could put energy into something actually ‘Fun’ or doing the work as I have for years before now,” he said in court documents.
Realizing no apology was forthcoming, Tyus submitted a formal complaint through the company’s internal ethics platform. On that same day, he was placed on involuntary leave and told to submit medical documentation if he wanted to return.
“After learning he was being placed on an involuntary leave, Tyus Jr. responded that he was ‘being retaliated against for my beliefs and aren’t being allowed back to work which feels again like an injustice,’” the complaint states.
When his leave ended, Tyus discovered his building access had been deactivated. He was later contacted by a senior employee relations lead who, according to the complaint, encouraged him to pass along her contact information to any other employees who may have felt offended by the flyers.
With his supervisor’s approval, Tyus created a document listing the employee relations lead’s contact information and placed copies on the same breakroom tables where the original flyers had appeared.
Less than a month later, on March 19, he was escorted out of the building and fired. General Mills cited “multiple violations of General Mills’ standards of conduct and policies,” according to the lawsuit.
Tyus’ termination came just weeks after he had received a performance review in January 2025 that described him as “on track,” attorneys said.
The lawsuit, filed by Storms Dworak LLC, claims General Mills violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act by retaliating against Tyus for reporting racially offensive materials. It seeks at least $50,000 in damages for each of three counts, along with attorney’s fees and a civil fine.
“General Mills has a national brand and a deep Minnesota footprint. In my view, that kind of presence comes with responsibility and a company of this size should be modeling what it means to support employees who speak up — not firing them,” said Tyus’ attorney Naomi Martin in a statement. “Mr. Tyus did what every employee should feel safe to do — he stood up, spoke out against what he believed was discrimination, and reported it. That took courage. And it’s exactly the kind of action the Minnesota Human Rights Act exists to protect. We brought this case because no one should face retaliation for doing the right thing.”
General Mills has declined to comment on the specifics of the case but issued a brief statement through multiple outlets: “While we do not comment on pending litigation, I can share that General Mills does not tolerate discrimination or retaliation.”
Tyus alleges that his attempts to raise legitimate concerns about the tone and framing of the material were met not with dialogue, but with punishment—first through forced leave, then with the loss of his job.
The case remains pending in Hennepin County District Court.
Great Job A.L. Lee & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star Source link for sharing this story.
