J.B. Hunt Discrimination Lawsuit Moves to Federal Court

Ryan Waters (LinkedIn)

J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. of Lowell has initiated moving a discrimination suit from Washington County Circuit Court to federal court.

The company, through its attorney Audra Hamilton of Mitchell Williams Selig Gates & Woodyard of Little Rock, filed the motion April 15, requesting Ryan Waters’ lawsuit be moved to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas.

Waters, a former executive, sued the company in March, alleging he was fired because he opposed the company’s discrimination against white men.

Waters, a former vice president of people, said he was fired in January 2023, after 22 years with the company, after he “admonished” his supervisor for discriminatory hiring practices and after he and a colleague hired a third party to audit the company’s hiring protocol in 2019.

In the suit, Waters said his unnamed supervisor said she wanted to change the company’s personnel from “redneck, skoal dipping, white boys.”

Waters declined to name the executive he said made that comment. “I have been advised to give no comment at this time,” he told Whispers through a social media message.

J.B. Hunt, for its part, has declined to comment, citing pending litigation.

“J.B. Hunt strives to create an inclusive culture where all people feel welcomed, valued, respected, safe and heard,” the company previously told Whispers through a spokesperson.