Popular “big box” retail chain Target is enduring heavy scrutiny after a training document used in a California facility exhibited racism towards Hispanic employees. Three former workers are suing the company, claiming they were fired after complaining about the document to upper management.
Courthouse News writes that Robert Gonzalez, Bulmaro Fabian and Pedro Garcia-Ayala sued Target Corp. in Yolo County Court, citing harassment, discrimination and retaliatory firing as the basis for their lawsuit.
From Courthouse News:
This document instructs managers to note differences among Hispanic employees, and states the following:
“a. Food: not everyone eats tacos and burritos;
“b. Music: not everyone dances to salsa;
“c. Dress: not everyone wears a sombrero;
“d. Mexicans (lower education level, some may be undocumented);
“e. Cubans (Political refugees, legal status, higher education level); and
“f. They may say ‘OK, OK’ and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face.
The gentlemen allege that the mostly white management staff of the distribution center routinely used racial slurs against Hispanic employees. According to a report from Consumerist, the document was not a company-wide memo and was only used at the center in question.
“It is never Target’s intent to offend our team members or guests and we apologize,” wrote Target spokesperson Molly Snyder. “We strive at all times to be a place where our team and guests feel welcome, valued and respected. This document, which was used during conversations at one distribution center, was never part of any formal or company-wide training.”
Gee, that’s comforting, we guess.
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Photo: digitaltrends.com
