Home Depot faces bias charge, suit

Home Channel News, Feb 7, 2000 by John Caulfield

Meets with Michigan Dept. of Civil Rights

SOUTHFIELD, MICH. -- A lawsuit filed against Home Depot by former and current black employees is likely to go forward, regardless of whether the state of Michigan decides to launch a full investigation into allegations of racial discrimination by the company.

On Feb. 4, officials from the Atlanta-based retailer met with the Michigan Department of Civil Rights to attempt to negotiate an agreement that would resolve a complaint initiated two weeks earlier by the department under the state's civil rights statutes. If no agreement is reached, the department would launch a full investigation that would look into the human resource practices at all 33 of Home Depot's stores in Michigan, according to Rachel Nusser, a spokeswoman for the department.

Meanwhile, 12 current and former black employees of Home Depot's store in Southfield, Mich., are proceeding with a lawsuit against the retailer filed on their behalf in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The suit alleges that the actions by the store's senior-level managers relating to hiring, training and promoting established a pattern of racial discrimination which favored white employees or job applicants. The plaintiffs are asking for $1.12 billion in compensatory damages and the same amount in punitive damages, according to the suit.

The company would not comment on the specific allegations "because this matter is in litigation," said Carol Schumacher, Home Depot vp-public relations, on Jan. 24. She declined to identify who was representing Home Depot in its discussions with Michigan's civil rights department and wouldn't comment about how the company might proceed if Michigan decides to investigate the chain's human resource practices. (Nusser said Home Depot was represented by its corporate vp-human resources, its corporate counsel and two Michigan-based attorneys.)

The company's only public statement, attributed to Faye Wilson, Home Depot's senior vp-value initiatives, emphasized that discussions with the civil rights department "[don't] mean that we believe discrimination has occurred in the Southfield store." Wilson went on to say that "[w]e want to ensure fair and equal access for all and our goal is to provide an environment where all Home Depot associates can be their best at serving our customers." Another Home Depot spokesperson was quoted in previous news reports as stating that Home Depot has "zero tolerance" for all forms of discrimination.

'Good old boy' hiring alleged

In January 1998, the employees named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit had filed a discrimination complaint against Home Depot with the state's civil rights department, which subsequently investigated this matter for more than a year. Nusser told NHCN that the department ultimately filed its own complaint against Home Depot because it has "reasonable information that unlawful discrimination has occurred." Nusser confirmed a news report in the Wall Street Journal that stated at least eight other employees of Home Depot stores in Detroit had made similar complaints to the department.

Nusser declined to comment specifically on what actions Home Depot would need to take to resolve the complaint. She did note, however, that the department's primary agenda was "that we just want to see fair treatment of employees in the workplace."

However, if the state and the retailer cannot reach an agreement, the department would then pursue its investigation as if it were a lawsuit. It would present its evidence to Michigan's eight-member civil rights commission, whose members were selected by the governor to adjudicate these matters.

"This is not something that we've done a lot, and an investigation of this scope could take a considerable amount of time," Nusser said.

Such an investigation "would have tremendous influence on our lawsuit," said Sean Tate, one of the attorneys representing the 12 employees who have filed against Home Depot. However, Tate said that he is preparing his case for a court hearing, regardless of the state's actions.

In essence, the plaintiffs' case focuses on the actions of three employees -- Ed Whitaker, the manager of the Southfield store; Tim Connolly, the store's human resource manager; and Jim Milliken, a district manager -- whom the plaintiffs allege set up what Tate called a "good old boy" system that hired and promoted white friends over blacks. (Tate said Whitaker, Connolly and Milliken are white. News reports have stated that 80 percent of the Southfield store's employees are black.) Tate added that the store's managers failed to post job openings or schedules for training classes in what he sees as an effort to keep that information from reaching black employees.

The black employees allege they were denied training and promotion opportunities that were availed to "unqualified" or "less qualified" white employees. When asked what criteria the plaintiffs used to determine the relative qualifications of employees, Tate said "tenure with the company" and "educational backgrounds."