Well, it’s all I could think of after reading this EEOC press release, highlighting a recent race discrimination and retaliation action against a car dealership because it did the equivalent of Dial ‘M’ For Moron.
From the press release:
EEOC said that On Sight’s area manager told Douglas Williams, the African-American manager of its detailing crew at Joe Cooper Ford, that On Sight wanted to “sprinkle a little salt” at the worksite. The area manager explained that he meant terminating black employees and replacing them with “whites and Mexicans.” Within a few days, Williams was demoted and replaced by a Hispanic manager, who then fired three African-American detailers and hired one Hispanic and two Caucasian employees.
Let’s break this down:
- White manager allegedly uses some words in a code that a four-year-old could crack — well, maybe a racist four-year-old;
- Black manager is clearly offended, and complains;
- Immediately afterwards, the complainant is demoted and replaced by someone who is not black; and
- Company proceeds to sprinkle the aforementioned racist salt.
That cost the employer a $50,000 payment to the EEOC to resolve the matter.
Code words for racism; still racism; violates federal law.
Save the salt for your french fries.