Dimerco Express USA didn't hide it. They didn't bury it in coded language. They didn't even pretend it was anything else.
They wanted to hire white employees—and they acted on it.
That directive came from the top. The company’s president pushed for "Caucasian" sales hires because he believed that’s who would best attract business. HR was expected to follow that lead. Recruiting reflected it. Internal materials reflected it. Candidate decisions reflected it.
And when someone inside the company raised the obvious issue—this is illegal discrimination—the response wasn't to stop.
It was to be more careful about saying it out loud.
An internal warning spelled it out in plain terms: if this ever becomes a lawsuit, these emails will lead to a "guilty verdict and large damage award."
The company didn't dispute that risk. It just wanted the language cleaned up.
Then came the real-world test.
Kenny Faulk applied. He had the credentials. He interviewed. He got the offer.
Then the company learned he was Black.
The offer was pulled.
The explanation given to Faulk pointed to a background issue. But internally, the story didn't hold. Because not long after, the company hired a white candidate with a more serious record—someone who got a chance to explain and was ultimately approved.
Same company. Same decision-maker. Same type of issue.
Different race. Different result.
And when HR asked why, the answer wasn't nuanced. The company wanted to hire white employees.
That's not a close call. That's not a miscommunication. That's not a poorly applied policy.
That's discrimination, carried out exactly as intended.
It was also repeated. The evidence showed a pattern of rejecting non-white candidates, reinforcing the same preferences, and continuing the practice even after internal warnings made clear it violated the law.
This wasn't a one-off decision. It was how the company operated.
A jury saw that and returned a verdict: $390,000 in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed it all, concluding the conduct was intentional, repeated, and reprehensible enough to justify significant punishment.
There's a lot of bad employer behavior out there. This one separates itself from the pack.
When you adopt a race-based hiring preference, enforce it, ignore internal warnings about its illegality, and then try to justify the outcome with shifting explanations, you're not just breaking the law.
You're making a statement about who you are as an employer.
And that's why Dimerco Express USA earns its place as the latest nominee for the Worst Employer of 2026.