Benjamin Moore sued for racial discrimination after paint company 'named brown hues after black employee'

Clinton Tucker worked for the company's website in New Jersey starting in 2011

He says he was fired for repeatedly complaining about their paint colors Clinton Brown and Tucker Chocolate

A black New Jersey man is suing his former employer Benjamin Moore for discrimination after he says the paint company named two brown paint tones after him.

Clinton Tucker's suit claims he was given the boot in March after he repeatedly complained about the colors Tucker Chocolate and Clinton Brown.

Tucker alleges one of the colors was a part of the company's Williamsburg Collection, a project he helped market.

Racist? A former black Benjamin Moore employee in New Jersey is suing the paint giant for racial discrimination after he was fired for complaining about two paint colors that he says were named after him



'Despite [Tucker's] repeated complaints and protestations to BM management about these appallingly racial color names, no action was ever taken by Benjamin Moore to change the names of these colors,' reads the suit.

The color remained on the Benjamin Moore website as of Sunday, where its description suggests the name has its origin in Colonial Williamsburg.

'Capturing the 1798 color requested by St. George Tucker for his home facing Courthouse Green, this deep brown is classic and understated,' reads the site.

Regardless of its purported beginnings, 'being a black man named Clinton Tucker, the plaintiff found this [color name] to be extremely racially offensive'

Do you see it? The Benjamin Moore website claims that Tucker Chocolate, from the Williamsburg Collection the plaintiff helped to market, has its origins in this home in Colonial Williamsburg

What's more, 'when this was mentioned at a meeting with at least eight people including his supervisor, this was met with awkward silence.'



It was part of what the plaintiff is claiming was a culture of racial insensitivity and even outright aversion.



'In addition, BM has a color called Clinton Brown,' reads the suit. 'A BM employee pointed this out to the plaintiff and thought it was funny.'



The suit notes that Benjamin Moore also has a paint color called Confederate Red 'offensively described by Benjamin [Moore] as a "timeless and enduring classic."'



Tucker believes that he was denied opportunities to advance because of his race 'despite spending countless hours in the office' and that his 'two white, blonde-haired and blue-eyed subordinates' remained at the company after his termination.

