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Kmart and Sears Sued for Racial Discrimination by EEOC
September 22, 2008
NEW YORK -- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing Kmart Corp. and Sears Holdings Corp. for allegedly discriminating against black employees in a Florida store.
The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and accuses Kmart managers of using racial slurs against former employee Dale Lewis and other black employees. One manager assaulted Lewis and, after he complained, forced him to leave the store, refusing to allow him back to work the next day, the suit alleges.
Managers told Lewis and other employees that they “don't talk black,” used racial epithets, and also called black customers in the store “monkeys,” according to the complaint. Employees complained about the harassment but were told to ignore it, the suit alleges. The employees either quit because of the alleged harassment or were fired for complaining about it, according to the complaint.
Managers also treated employees differently based on their race, firing an employee in the loss-prevention department for alleged misconduct but giving more favorable treatment to others who had committed the same misconduct, the suit alleges.
EEOC stated that they were unsuccessful in negotiating a voluntary settlement with the defendants. A spokeswoman for Sears Holdings, which owns Kmart, said Friday that the company does not comment on pending litigation.
“It is appalling that management officials at a major retailer would use racial epithets toward employees,” Nora E. Curtin, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Miami district office, said in a statement. “There is evidence in this case that managers had done this on multiple occasions and they were not disciplined or terminated.”
The acting director for the EEOC’s Miami district office, Manuel Zurita,called the alleged conduct “morally reprehensible” and a violation of federal law.
Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based Sears Holdings is the parent company for Kmart and Sears, Roebuck and Co., which merged in March 2005. The company has $50 billion in annual revenues and 3,800 specialty and retail stores in the U.S. and Canada, making it the fourth-largest broadline retailer in the U.S., according to its Web site.
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