Mayor mum on alleged racially hostile workplace at ThyssenKrupp

Mayor Rahm Emanuel refused to weigh in Saturday night about allegations of racial discrimination levied against ThyssenKrupp, a German conglomerate that last week agreed to make Chicago its North American regional headquarters.

The Sun-Times reported Saturday that the Illinois Department of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that ThyssenKrupp – an international global technology and materials group employing 180,000 people in 80 countries – created a hostile work environment at a Chicago office where employees allegedly made racially disparaging comments that included frequent use of the n-word.

The department found “substantial evidence of discrimination.”

Emanuel, who attended a Museum of Contemporary Art fundraiser Saturday night, was tight-lipped when asked about the findings.

He said he would respond to the allegations, “when the time is right,” and referred a reporter to a previous statement from his office that stressed that Chicago has “zero tolerance for prejudice.”

The Sun-Times asked Emanuel how the city would react, in light of that policy, if the allegations against the German company prove true. He again declined to comment.