Allegations that a black worker was racially harassed by a foreman who threatened him with a hangman's noose and repeated racial slurs led to a suit against two La Porte companies [Phoenix Services and Phoenix Industrial Service] by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC]..."The EEOC refused to provide [facts about the case] and instead they demanded the company settle in an amount that the company found to be completely unreasonable and for an amount that, based on the information the company had, was unjustified," said Rick Morris, a lawyer with Feldman & Rogers who is representing Phoenix Services.