Former NASCAR inspector Mauricia Grant is suing the auto-racing organization for $225 million, alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination. Grant, who says her years of interest in cars and racing made her accustomed to working in a man's world, was shocked by the way she was treated during her time with NASCAR.

"I loved it. It was a great, exciting, adrenaline-filled job where I worked with fast cars and the best drivers in the world," Grant told The Associated Press. "But there was an ongoing daily pattern [of harassment]. It was the nature of the people I worked with, the people who ran it, it trickled down from the top."

The 32-year-old woman, who is black, worked as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide Series from January 2005 until her termination last October, according to ESPN.com. In the lawsuit, she alleged she was subject to racially-charged nicknames like "Nappy Headed Mo" and was intimidated by one official who routinely made references to the Ku Klux Klan.

In addition, Grant said she was subjected to sexual advances from male co-workers, two of whom allegedly exposed themselves to her.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, lists 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination throughout her employment.

"As an equal opportunity employer, NASCAR is fully committed to the spirit and letter of affirmative action law," said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston. He added that the organization had not yet reviewed the suit.

In the lawsuit, Grant said she complained numerous times to her supervisors about how she was treated, to no avail. On one occasion, Grant said Nationwide Series director Joe Balash, her immediate supervisor, was dismissive of her complaints, explaining her co-workers were "former military guys" with a rough sense of humor.

"You just have to deal with it," she says Balash told her.
After repeated complaints the woman was fired, with "poor work performances" cited as the reason.

"My supervisors all praised me. I was hanging in there with the guys," she said. "I am an athletic person. I went over the wall and faced malicious crews and competitive crew chiefs, and I was right there and held it down and was never lazy about it.

"And I knew that once I was terminated, there wasn't going to be an opportunity for me to find another industry like NASCAR to practice my craft," she said.

Grant says she continues to suffer from severe emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, headaches and gastrointestinal distress since her firing. She remains unemployed.

If that be the case she should win that one. There is no room for racism of any kind in this country.

She should talk to Danika who races for formula one. She is pretty good. There was a woman nascar driver but I haven`t seen her in quite awhile. What are these men thinking? We women are just as good as they are.

That's sexism, not racism. Secondly, this lady wasn't a driver. Thirdly, last I knew, D. Patrick's record isn't exactly something to brag about.

it's interesting how people could sue for racism in anything they do today.

Do you know the outcome of this yet?
Are they still in court?

She's a whiner.

I work almost exclusively with guys, and yes, they can be rougher, and they will test you. If she can't deal with them, then she's in the wrong job.

When guys just being guys upsets someone to the point they can't take it, then she's in the wrong job. And it minimizes the real effects of true sexual harassment, which is NOT what most guys are doing when they joke around and act like you're "one of the boys".

That's a sign of respect, when they treat you as an equal, not disrespect. It's not like someone coming up to you and saying "nice knockers!".

If someone at my workplace said that to me, I'd laugh at him, and come right back at him, say something like "that's what my husband says, too!" or "nice package!" Just to show him you aren't intimidated or offended, and that he can't just say something without getting it right back. They expect that, and you have to keep them in line like that. Just like between other guys, if one calls out the other, and the other cries or runs and tattles, he has lost all respect and he will be picked on unmercifully after that...he'll be known as the faggot after that.

Women who pull the sexual harassment thing, when it's nothing more than normal guy stuff, annoy me. In a perfect, Politically Correct world, the guys wouldn't talk like that, there'd be no gender based joking around (come to think about, there'd be no joking at all) and things would be stiff, distrustful and unfriendly out of paranoia and suspicion.

We are not so fragile we can't handle ourselves with dignity and draw boundaries with them, those who act like the merest mention of any 'guy talk' will traumatize them for life so they have to go on disability for life and sue everyone and go on Maury Povich and whine about how devastating it was...need to fuck on off back to the kitchen.

Buck up and put him in his place like only a woman can, sister.

I think she should be winning that.There is no room for racism in this modern world.