A Black-owned West Tennessee forklift training business has sued the nonprofit in charge of funneling federal workforce training grant funds to students.
The forklift company alleges the nonprofit is discriminating against the business by limiting the number of students who can use grant funds to train there.
Reginald Carrick opened All-Star Training LLC in Memphis in 2016 and started training students seeking forklift certifications. Carrick’s business is an Eligible Training Provider, meaning All-Star Training is certified to teach students using funds from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
The funds are meant to help people who face barriers to employment develop skills they need for in-demand jobs. Beneficiaries can include veterans, individuals with disabilities, at-risk youth, low-earning adults and people who have been laid off. Nine regional labor boards appointed by local government officials allocate those federal funds in Tennessee.
Carrick has provided training in the Greater Memphis Workforce Development Area, a separate region spanning Fayette, Lauderdale, Shelby and Tipton counties, without any cap on how many students could enroll using the federal funding, according to the lawsuit filed March 23.