TRENTON
– Attorney General Zulima V. Farber
and the Division on Civil Rights announced
today that the State has issued Findings
of Probable Cause against three employers
accused of discriminating against three
female workers by subjecting them to sexual
harassment and a hostile work environment.
The employers were also charged with failing
to act once the employees reported their
allegations.
Named as Respondents in separate Findings
of Probable Cause are Wal-Mart Stores
Inc., Ozzie’s Ford Store, an automobile
dealership in North Jersey, and the Amerada
Hess Corporation, Inc.
A Finding of Probable Cause does not represent
final adjudication of a discrimination
case. Rather, it is a determination, based
on investigation by the Division on Civil
Rights, that there is sufficient evidence
to support a reasonable suspicion that
the state’s Law Against Discrimination
(LAD) has been violated, and that the
matter should proceed to a hearing.
“These
cases are troubling because, in each instance,
the workplace conduct that is alleged
is not only unlawful, it is demeaning
and dehumanizing, ” said Attorney
General Farber. “There simply is
no room on the job – or anywhere
else, for that matter – for this
type of alleged behavior.”
The
Wal-Mart Finding of Probable Cause involves
allegations made by Complainant Anjenette
Johnson, a cashier at the company-owned
store in Union Township, Union County.
According to the Finding of Probable Cause,
Johnson alleged that she was the target
of repeated, unwelcome sexual advances
and requests for sexual favors by two
weekend security guards at the store.
In August 2004, Johnson told Division
on Civil Rights investigators, she reported
the situation to her manager. Johnson
charged that, as a result of her complaint,
she was told she would no longer be scheduled
to work weekends. This was a significant
change, as Johnson’s availability
on weekdays was limited by her child’s
need to attend regular physical therapy
sessions. According to the Finding of
Probable cause document, Wal-Mart ultimately
took no action related to Johnson’s
accusations other than to change her work
schedule. Wal-Mart, which as a corporation
denies the allegations, contended it was
unable to corroborate Johnson’s
version of events, although a store manager
acknowledged never having interviewed
the accused security personnel.
In the second case, Division on Civil
Rights investigators found evidence to
sustain the allegations of Brenda Robinson,
a former officer manager at Ozzie’s
Ford Store in Kearny, Hudson County. Robinson,
who is African-American, charged that
she had no alternative but to resign because
of a hostile work environment created
by consistent sexual and race-based harassment.
According to Robinson, dealership owner/president
Azad Khubani made frequent sexual comments
about her, and made demeaning comments
regarding African-Americans in general.
According to the Finding of Probable Cause
document, attempts by Robinson to stop
the behavior by complaining about it to
Khubani, and in the presence of other
high-level dealership managers, were unsuccessful.
Robinson, who quit her job in August 2004,
maintains that a hostile work environment
left her no alternative but to resign.
Ozzie’s Ford Store denies engaging
in any discrimination.
In the third case, Amerada Hess employee
Rosana Savio filed a complaint against
the company related to alleged harassment
while working her job as a cashier at
a Hess service/convenience station in
Woodbridge, Middlesex County. Savio, of
Elizabeth, alleged that she was targeted
for reprisals -- including an unwanted
transfer out of the Woodbridge location
-- after reporting that her manager had
made sexual advances and lewd comments
to her. Savio’s employer denies
her allegations. According to the Finding
of Probable Cause, Savio was transferred
out of the Woodbridge store in June 2004,
approximately two months after filing
an internal complaint with her employer
about the alleged conduct of her manager.
“These allegations make clear how
much work there remains to be done to
educate employers as to what is acceptable
behavior in the workplace,” said
Division on Civil Rights Director J. Frank
Vespa-Papaleo. “Sixty years after
New Jersey established the nation’s
first state anti-discrimination law, we
are still fighting the same basic fights.
We are committed to ensuring that all
New Jerseyans know the time has come for
this kind of unlawful discrimination to
end.”
Now that a Finding of Probable Cause has
been issued in each case, they move into
a phase known as Conciliation, a form
of Alternative Dispute Resolution in which
the parties make a final attempt to resolve
the matter. If a case is not resolved
at Conciliation, the matter is referred
to the New Jersey Office of Administrative
Law, where an Administrative Law Judge
schedules a formal hearing or non-jury
trial on the merits of the case, and issues
a decision.
Under the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination,
each Respondent found to have committed
a violation is subject to a 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 law 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 of
the law within the past seven years are
subject to a penalty of up to $50,000.
The Division on Civil Rights is responsible
for enforcing the Law Against Discrimination
and the New Jersey Family Leave Act. Specifically,
the Division investigates allegations
of discrimination in employment, housing,
places of public accommodation and credit.
Its offices are located in Atlantic City,
Camden, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson,
and Trenton. Further information about
the Division is available on its Web site
at www.NJCivilRights.org.
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