Workplace a hole, some Shipley's employees claim

So everything might not be so sweet at Shipley Do-Nuts after all: A group of employees has filed an EEOC suit against the company alleging that they're forced to work in awful conditions, and one of the complainants claims Shipley's retaliated against him after he complained, even to the point of spying on him as he made his delivery rounds.

Fifteen Shipley's employees claim in the group lawsuit that they've experienced racial slurs, beatings, sexual advances, threats and restrictions while working 40 to 60 hours a week in un-air conditioned kitchens. They claim the company keeps them "virtual prisoners" in its North Main Street plant, locking them in the kitchens and preventing them from leaving the building for lunch. What's more, they say a supervisor at the plant took their IDs and used them to get loans from the company in their names, then kept the money for himself. A supervisor (it's not clear if it's the same one) also forced employees to pay for sick leave and the chance to work overtime, the employees say.

One of the people involved in the suit, delivery driver Gerardo Guzman, is accusing the company of harassing him after he complained about the working conditions. He claims Shipley's began working to find infractions after the complaint, writing him up for driving too fast and for stopping to buy breakfast tacos during his delivery rounds one day. Guzman's EEOC lawyer, Rudy Sustaita, said Guzman's supervisor had given him permission for the taco stop and that the situation had gotten out of control: "It reached the point of absurdity that someone was taking pictures of him stopping at a taco stand," Sustaita said.

Shipley's, which has 190 stores in several Southern states, has not commented extensively on the suits other than to say it denies all the allegations.

Photo: flickr user Houstonian