Employee Reports Manager’s Racist Statements and Allegedly Suffers Heavier Work Load and Changed Schedule before Termination.

David ManesLawsuits & Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Employee Files Lawsuit against Winc for Race Discrimination and Hostile Work Environment

Patrick, a Caucasian man, accepted a job with Winc as an operations supervisor in January 2016. Within days of starting, an African American warehouse picker threatened Patrick because he wouldn’t allow  extra job duties outside of the man’s position. When Patrick met with Mark, the operations manager, to discuss the incident, Patrick recalled that Mark told Patrick that he was “white and having to manage African Americans” so Patrick “needed to be careful how [he] talk[ed] to them.” When Patrick met with Mark, the operations manager, to discuss the incident, Patrick recalled that Mark told Patrick that he was “white and having to manage African Americans” so Patrick “needed to be careful how [he] talk[ed] to them.”

A few weeks later, Patrick reported the statements to the Human Resources department. Nothing was done. Patrick continued working, but he noticed that his manager Mark started slacking in his duties and passing them off to him. In a move to figure out what was going on, Patrick contacted a former director about Mark’s behavior. When Mark discovered Patrick’s complaints, he allegedly said, “we should all be working together,” but according to Patrick, Mark continued to interfere with Patrick’s job and assign him extra work.

Then, in October, Patrick was investigated for unfair treatment due to race. When the investigation dropped, Patrick heard from another employee that Mark had been accusing Patrick of treating employees unfairly due to race. In December, Patrick received an email from Mark, changing his start time to 7 am. According to Patrick, no reason was given, and he then had to work 9-hour days while no other employee had a changed schedule.

Despite adjusting to this schedule, Patrick shared that he was fired a month later for the reason of poor work performance. However, Patrick believes he was fired in retaliation for complaining about the race discrimination and hostile work environment. As a client of KM&A, Patrick seeks his employee rights. KM&A represents employees like Patrick who have suffered discrimination, retaliation, and hostile work environment.

 

Full text of this complaint, as filed with the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is available at docket no: 2:18-cv-00944-WB

Kraemer, Manes & Associates LLC is an employment law firm with principal offices in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, serving all counties in Pennsylvania, focusing on employment law, business law, litigation, and civil issues. KM&A clients include employees, small businesses, parties in litigation, and people with a variety of legal issues.

For more information about this case, contact Attorney Jonathan Chase at 215-475-3504 or at jwc@lawkm.com.

NOTICE: All information contained in this statement comes from the Complaint which has been filed as a public record with the court. As dedicated civil rights attorneys, we strongly believe in the public value of telling our clients’ stories: violators can be held accountable, and other silent victims can feel empowered to stand up for their legal rights. Although we make every attempt to verify our clients’ claims, note that the defendant is expected to oppose our client’s position, and the court has not ruled one way or the other as of the date of this statement.