Clothing Retailer Accused of Discriminating African-American Worker

November 17, 2009

Sacramento, California - A former employee of a clothing retail giant claimed he was denied promotion because of his race and was “wrongfully terminated” after charging the company with a class-action lawsuit for allegedly committing racial discrimination.

Casey Stewart, 43, accused Jos. A. Bank Clothiers of discriminating African-American workers and applicants.

In a court-complaint filed before a federal court in San Francisco, Stewart said the clothing company “has expressly instructed all its managers to prevent African-American employees from being promoted to managerial positions and to subject them to harsher discipline.”

Stewart also said the company, which is based in Maryland and has 104 stores around the country, prefers “white look and image over diligent, responsible, and effective employees and applicants.”

Meanwhile, lawyer Anthony Perez who represents the complainant said the class-action lawsuit covers all job applicants and qualified African-American employees from the company’s western region.

Perez believes his client’s lawsuit has its merit “given the fact that Stewart is a college graduate, has an extensive retail management experience, and has worked more than 10 years as an assistant manager for the clothing company.”

“Because of his experience and qualification, some store managers encouraged Stewart to apply for a management position in the company’s Bay Area store. His application was then denied by corporate management in the western region because of his race”, Perez said.

“He [Stewart] filed discrimination lawsuit against the company which immediately retaliated by firing him, telling him he was disciplined for not following the medical-leave procedure”, the lawyer added.

However, Perez believes the termination was wrongfully committed since Stewart immediately returned to work two days after he suffered from chest pain.