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TRENTON
-- The Division on Civil Rights announced
today it has issued a Finding of Probable
Cause against a Hudson County securities and
asset management company charged with discriminating
against a worker because of his race, and
because he is a homosexual. The Finding of
Probable Cause also applies to charges that
the company retaliated against the man by
firing him after he complained about a hostile
work environment.
Named
as Respondents in the Finding of Probable
Cause are The Bank of New York, which owns
the securities and asset management business,
and two individual company employees –
vice-president Charles Ferrari and supervising
assistant manager Walter Gorski. (The Bank
of New York has merged with Mellon Financial
Corp. and is now known as The Bank of New
York Mellon.)
The
Respondents are accused of subjecting employee
Paul Nathan, an African-American, to discriminatory
treatment and hostile environment harassment
because of his race and sexual orientation,
and for later firing him in the wake of his
reporting his allegations internally, as well
as to the Division on Civil Rights.
“The
conduct alleged in this case is troubling,”
said Division on Civil Rights Acting Director
C. Carlos Bellido. “Employers have a
duty to create and maintain a work environment
in which all employees are treated with equality,
dignity and respect. In addition, employers
are prohibited from using discipline or discharge
to retaliate against a worker who has reported
discriminatory conduct.”
Although
Nathan, of Flushing, N.Y., filed his original
discrimination complaint with the Division
on Civil Rights in late 2006, he amended the
complaint approximately a year later to include
retaliation after the Bank of New York discharged
him.
According
to the Finding of Probable Cause, a human
resources executive employed by the Bank of
New York told Nathan in August 2007 it was
obvious he was unhappy and that, upon his
termination, he “should go somewhere
else where he would be happy.”
An
employee of the company’s Enclosing
Mail Operations (EMO) department, Nathan charged
in his original complaint that he and another
African-American worker were routinely assigned
to the largest, most difficult and burdensome
equipment in the so-called “green room”
without assistance in lifting heavy materials.
The green room was where the company’s
master mailer machines were located.
Nathan’s complaint charged that non-African-American
employees were not regularly assigned to such
green room duty and, if they were, received
help in dealing with the heavy lifting. According
to the Finding of Probable Cause, a half-dozen
other Bank of New York employees interviewed
by State investigators corroborated Nathan’s
account of the disparate treatment. Two witnesses
also corroborated Nathan’s claim that
the green room was referred to as ‘the
plantation.”
Nathan
also charged that he was targeted for acts
of racial and sexual harassment from numerous
Bank of New York employees. Among other things,
Nathan alleged that he’d been the target
of name-calling, derogatory comments about
his sexual orientation, the posting of at
least one racially and sexually offensive
photograph-and-caption, and a threat that
he would be sodomized with a stick.
Nathan
told investigators he complained about the
situation to several members of upper management
within the Bank of New York, but to no avail.
Other company employees who spoke with State
investigators said both Ferrari and Gorski
set the tone of the workplace by using humor
that was often racially or sexually derogatory,
by making racially and sexually offensive
comments, and by laughing at such conduct
from others.
The
Bank of New York denied that Nathan ever broached
the subject of sexual harassment with company
officials, but did acknowledge that Nathan
brought to a human resources executive his
concern over racial discrimination. The bank
advised State investigators that it looked
into Nathan’s claims and found that
Ferrari and Gorski had tolerated “raw,”
but not racially offensive, language in the
work place. Both men purportedly had Corrective
Action Notices placed in their personnel files.
Ferrari and Gorski have both denied the allegations
made by Nathan. The Bank of New York also
denies firing Nathan as a retaliatory move.
A
Finding of Probable Cause does not resolve
a civil rights complaint. Rather, it means
the State has concluded its preliminary investigation
and determined there is sufficient evidence
to support a reasonable suspicion the New
Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) has
been violated.
The Law Against Discrimination (LAD) provides
that each Respondent found to have committed
a violation is subject to a statutory penalty
of up to $10,000, provided he or she has not
been convicted of a previous violation within
the past five years. Respondents who have
violated the LAD within the past five years
are subject to a penalty of up to $25,000,
while those who have been convicted of two
or more violations within the past seven years
are subject to a penalty of up to $50,000.
In
addition, under amendments to the LAD, Respondents
found to have committed unlawful discrimination
may be liable for substantial compensatory
damages, including back pay, and pain and
humiliation.
According
to Acting Director Bellido, now that the Division
has issued a Finding of Probable Cause, the
case will be referred for a process known
as Conciliation. If Conciliation is not successful,
the matter will be referred to an Administrative
Law Judge for a hearing on the merits, which
is a non-jury trial. The Administrative Law
Judge will then issue a written Initial Decision.
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