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A white Marine Corps veteran who spent nearly 15 years working in corporate security for Shell is suing the oil giant, alleging he was forced out and replaced by a less-qualified man during a DEI-fueled reorganization.Thomas Hutt, 60, of Rusk, Texas, claims Shell booted him from his role overseeing security for the company’s US oil facilities as Shell said it was “diversifying the talent” during the January 2025 reorganization — giving his job to an employee the complaint described as a black man from Nigeria whose background was mainly in another area.The overhaul culminated when Hutt’s supervisor presented him and two of his white colleagues who were laid off at the same time with a novelty “tear jar,” according to the lawsuit first obtained by The Post.The complaint alleges the gift — supposedly meant to collect tears shed in grief — mocked the fired workers and reflected “deliberate indifference toward the discriminatory consequences of the reorganization.”America First Legal, a nonprofit law firm dedicated to causes including fighting government overreach, filed suit against Shell in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas on Wednesday.The complaint, which also named the supervisor, Wayne Hunt, accuses them of discrimination and retaliation on the basis of race and national origin.Hutt is a former anti-tank missileman who served in the Marines from 1984 to 1990 before working for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and then joining Shell in 2010, according to the complaint.
He spent roughly eight years as Shell’s US security manager, overseeing security operations across the country and working with federal, state and local authorities, the filing states.During the reorganization, the only three white employees in the Houston-based Corporate Security Division were required to compete for their existing positions and identify possible backup roles, Hutt claims.The two other men sued Shell last year on the same grounds.That l...