Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Division on Civil Rights announced today that the State has filed a Superior Court complaint against national retailer Rent-A-Center, Inc. alleging that the company tolerated racial slurs in the workplace.
Filed in Superior Court in Camden County, the complaint alleges that Rent-A-Center unlawfully discriminated by failing to prevent or remedy racially hostile conduct in two of its stores, both located in Pennsauken. Based in Plano, Tx., Rent-A-Center operates a total of 2,600 “rent-to-own” stores throughout the United States, including 40 in New Jersey.
According to the Division’s complaint, the alleged discriminatory conduct included, but was not limited to, an assistant manager at the Rent-A-Center store on Federal Street in Pennsauken habitually using the n-word when speaking to co-workers.
The complaint alleges that an African-American employee – who also was an assistant manager at the store -- reported the slurs to a Rent-A-Center district manager and to corporate higher-ups in Texas, but no effective remedial measures were undertaken to correct the situation.
In the wake of her co-worker’s report and a subsequent Rent-A-Center internal inquiry, the offending manager, who is Hispanic, kept her job but was transferred to a second Rent-A-Center store on Crescent Boulevard in Pennsauken. Once assigned to her new store, however, the manager allegedly persisted in using the n-word to address her co-workers.
“If proven to be true, these allegations are an outrageous example of this company’s failure to stand up against racial bias,” said Attorney General Porrino. “No one should be subjected to even one utterance of the slur referenced in this case, let alone a steady diet of it, which is what allegedly took place within this national retail organization according to our complaint. We contend that in circumstances such as those alleged here, an employer must stand up for its workers to stamp out a racially hostile work environment. “
The Division’s complaint charges that employees at both Rent-A-Center stores in Pennsauken were subjected to a racially hostile environment due to Rent-A-Center’s “actions and inactions” relative to reports of racial slurs in the workplace.
Although the Division’s lawsuit describes a culture of tolerance for the n-word within the two Rent-A-Center stores in Pennsauken, a workplace verbal altercation at the Federal Street store in December 2014 appears to have brought things to a head.
On that day, assistant manager Aaron Berry, who is African-American, argued with assistant manager Christina Martinez, who is Hispanic, over the handling of a customer matter. Angry in the aftermath, Martinez allegedly referred to Berry with a number of racial slurs and obscenities, then left the premises. Berry told Division investigators he subsequently expressed his concerns to several different managers and was advised to focus instead on “getting sales” and also was told the situation was “an H.R. (human resources) matter.” Berry then contacted corporate headquarters in Texas.
According to documentation provided to the Division by Rent-A-Center, the company handled the Martinez situation through its Coworker Relations Department, and Martinez ultimately was given “corrective coaching,” admonished that her conduct was “unprofessional,” and that she had received her “final warning.”
Rent-A-Center also provided Division investigators with hand-written testimonials from employees who worked at the Federal Street store where Berry and Martinez had worked. One of the employee statements confirmed that Martinez had used the n-word toward Berry. Another noted that situations occasionally arose in the workplace where employees would “say things they should not say,” but also reasoned that “we feel it’s OK because we are like family.”
Division investigators subsequently interviewed some of the authors of the written statements to learn more. In one case, an employee said he has heard Martinez use the n-word on more than one occasion, although he himself was not necessarily offended by it. The same worker told investigators that several employees of the store use the n-word “nonchalantly” in the workplace, although he emphasized that Berry was not one of them.
Around the same time, the Division received a complaint from an employee at the Crescent Boulevard Rent-A-Center store – the store to which Martinez had been transferred after her argument with Berry. The employee, identified only as “H.G.” and no longer employed by Rent-A-Center, said Martinez had used the n-word since arriving at the Crescent Boulevard location, and claimed she’d once directed the slur at him. Rent-A-Center denied the ex-employee’s allegations.
However, the Division subsequently obtained a report from Rent-A-Center’s own investigation of H.G.’s claims that contained corroboration from a second Crescent Boulevard store worker. The report documented the store worker’s interview with a Rent-A-Center EEO investigator in which the worker buttressed H.G.’s claims by saying he’d personally witnessed Martinez using the n-word. Division investigators also interviewed a third Crescent Boulevard store worker who confirmed that Martinez had used the n-word, and that H.G. had complained to the Store Manager about it.
The Division’s complaint seeks an order from the court that Rent-A-Center submit to training and monitoring by the Division for two years.
In addition, the complaint seeks compensatory and punitive damages.