Morgan E. (Chip) Welch: Breaking Down Bigotry

George Williams of Smackover, Arkansas, was 53 and had worked at the ConAgra poultry plant for 32 years when he was fired for removing the hands of Willie White from his throat during an argument. Both were black; none of the white workers who had had physical altercations had even been disciplined. Only after firing Williams and White did the company institute a rule prohibiting fights.

ConAgra was the place to work in the area, said Williams’ lawyer, Morgan E. (“Chip”) Welch of Little Rock: It offered good benefits for southern Arkansas, even though the 20% of employees who were white were upper-level supervisors who, along with others, called the place ConAfrica.

Black workers were “mistreated by people who are cartoon characters from the sixties,” Morgan said. Whites alluded to Ku Klux Klan “hunting trips,” threw objects at blacks, scrawled racial graffiti in the bathroom, and posted offensive statements.

After four days of trial, the jury took only two and a half hours to order ConAgra to pay Williams sizeable damages.

“ConAgra has had multiple complaints” about plant conditions, said associate Lloyd (“Tre”) Kitchens, whom Welch credits for much of the case work. “Maybe they’ll fix it now.”

Morgan says he’ll continue to pursue this and similar cases. “It’s part of our mission. Lawyers don’t build anything,” like architects do. “This type of case makes you feel you’re doing something worthwhile.”