I went to work at Garden City Mazda after hearing of its equitable commission scale for salesmen from a fellow salesman Tom Demaio. He stated the commission scale was 30% with 10% commission of the back end of the deals. When I went to work there they offered me 20% commission and 5% on the back end. Not the traditional wage even though I had ample experience and a proven track record with a neighboring dealership.
I went to work at the dealership and noticed that the more I progressed in sales the less receptive my presence was and the more of my own lot work I had to do. At this dealership they employ staff to put on license plates for salesmen who deliver new cars.
I being the only African American salesman had to place my own license tags on new and used cars and log my own trades. I noticed my customers had to wait long for managers Al Marullo to run numbers for or give them a marketable price. I even noticed my customers had to pay higher prices for dealing with me because they liked me. On several occasions, customers noted that the reason they bought the car was because of my customer service and salesmanship. On three occasions I had to convince customers to buy the cars despite the management's attitude towards me. Saying they didn't want to do business with the company who acted that way towards me. Knowing my paycheck depended on their patronage I convinced them to do purchase the automobiles. Point in case, Jose Velasquez, Germaine Boyd and Nicole Clerk, Robert Byrnes, James Roderick Peacock.
I was repeatedly insulted by the Finance and Insurance manger, Alan Hess. At first I played it off as just office humor. But the more sales I got the he became a persistent droning against my clothing, race, and intelligence. He repeatedly insulted me in front of female employees, Vanessa X, and Liza Demilfo. On several occasions I gave him a verbal warning that his insult to me were beyond usual office humor and that I was taking offence of the racial kind. He insulted me more and belittled the fact that I would even think that.
On or about May 4, I was sitting at a desk talking to Liza Demilfo. Alan Hess walks over sits down and begins to hit me with a barrage of insults. From one talking about the South and where I was from and how people from Manhattan were better. Looking at Liza winking as to say white people were better they both being white and from New York.
On April 29 I came into the dealership to deliver a car on my day off. I came into the dealership in jeans and a t-shirt because it was my day off. I had seen Ricardo Nelson another salesman come in the same attire to deliver a car on his day off. Alan Hess told me that I couldn't deliver the car in jeans. That Ricardo Nelson was delivering the car and that I was going to be docked for this incident. Meaning it would directly affect my pay.
On May 8, I was sitting talking to another salesman, Ralph Toussaint. Alan Hess came over and started telling jokes bout my clothes which were more than appropriate attire for the work place. He then insulted my ring tones which were hip-hop or urban.
And told me that I couldn't wear a blue tooth wireless phone device in the building. He said it looked bad with customers when I have seen Ricardo with his device on several occasions without any supervision or chastisement.
I am the only African American at the dealership. Ralph Toussaint stated to me that he needed his job but these people are racist. They allow the salesman who are white or Latino to come and go as they please but the black and Caribbean sales people have to ask permission and it is usually denied. I tested this theory for several weeks and found out time and time again he was right. It is as if they were doing me a favor to let me go out for lunch, when it is customary in the car business to go out for lunch in the south and some dealerships because you spend all your waking hours there.
On May 13 while visiting the dealership, I asked the General Manager about coming back to the dealership. Paul Paserelli stated that he had taken a look at my commissions and they were about three thousand dollars why did I leave? I stated to him that that was what I had calculated and that Alan Hess had gotten to me with the whole blue tooth ban on my headset. It was the last straw and that I didn't sleep well since it happened. His continually harassment of me made me wonder if I needed to be selling cars or working at all. I am a disabled veteran on disability compensation from the United States Navy and I supplement my Veterans Compensation by working when I am healthy enough to.
There are more incidents, too many to name in this communication, but I will be detailing them in my correspondence to the state, federal and local governments.
The following are incidents that took place that I feel were racist and of ill intent towards me and I will demand restitution for pain and suffering, loss of sleep, paranoia, and bouts of depression caused by these incidents. For I can no longer look myself in the mirror to think that men in the twenty first century could think to conveniently rob me of my rightfully deserved wages.
Case Point 1. Jose and Catherine Velasquez viewed Al Marullo yelling at me over a something as simple as a car price. They insinuated then that it was because of my race after no prompting on my part. The customer is a third party who neither gains by this observation or loses. This is the opinion of an impartial judge.
Case Point 2. Nicole Clerk and Germaine Boyd viewed that they were having a harder than normal time getting the exact figures they needed to think about. Stating maybe it was color the reason they were having a problem getting the deal they needed after another dealership stated it was available. I disagreed with them because I needed the sale. Impartially I would have said yes it was because of their color and economic make-up.
Case Point 3. After giving my schedule to Al Marullo he asked me why I scheduled a lunch period. I told him I took medication for diabetes and other things I needed to do during the day could all be done sufficiently on my schedule lunch period. Alan Hess stated to me that I could not get a break for lunch even after I stated to him that the law of the State of New York makes provisions for workers rights to have a lunch period on any work period more than six hours he laughed and told me he didn't know where I thought I was but no car dealership in New York does that. I then told him he was insulting my intelligence again when he stated that this company was able to do something in direct disrespect to New York State Law 162.
Squires commuications inc.
Hempstead, New York
U.S.A.
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