Five black employees of an Alabama-based trucking firm say they were given pre-marked Republican ballots on the day a sitting Republican senator came to visit their facility, and that "an employee drew cross hairs or a target on a picture of President Obama and posted it in the workplace.
The five employees made the allegations in a recently-filed discrimination lawsuit against Altec industries. The company makes specialized trucks, including aerials, digger derricks and telescopic cranes. The little-noticed story was noted by Tracy Walsh on Monday at Courthouse News.
According to Walsh, plaintiff Australia Harris alleged that "In or around October 2008, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) came to the facility where plaintiff was employed and talked to the employees about voting Republican. Plaintiff and other employees were informed they had to attend the rally with Senator Sessions. In addition, the owner of the company informed the employees they should vote Republican and gave the employees pre-marked ballots."
Sessions, pictured above on the right, was first elected in 1996, and was previously the Attorney General of Alabama. A spokesman for the senator did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.