The EEOC’s lawsuit charged that the dealer’s general manager
singled out four Afghan American salesmen during a staff meeting, calling them
“terrorists,” threatening to blow them up with a grenade, and yelling and swearing at them.
After the men reported the harassment, the EEOC alleged, they
faced retaliation by the car dealership, such as additional verbal harassment and extra job scrutiny. The salesmen felt they had no option
other than to resign, which they did a week later, the EEOC said. An Afghan-American manager was also
fired from his job after he spoke up for the four salesmen.
"The irony
of this matter is that, after
being labeled ‘terrorists’ at our old job, most of us found work with the U.S. military serving in
Afghanistan protecting U.S. soldiers from the terrorists," said Mohammad Sawary, one of the former
employees.
Discrimination and harassment based on national origin violate
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC defines national origin discrimination to
include treating job applicants or employees unfavorably because they are from
a particular country or part of the world, because of ethnicity or accent, or
because they appear to be of a certain ethnic background (even if they are
not). National origin
discrimination also can involve treating people unfavorably because they are
married to or associated with a person of a certain national origin or because
of their connection with an ethnic organization or group.
Under the terms of the settlement in this case, the
dealership agreed to train all managers, post a notice regarding the lawsuit
and report to the EEOC for a three-year period, in addition to paying $400,000
to the five former employees.
New York, New York
Sources: EEOC
press release and web site; Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
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