Former NASCAR Inspector Alleges Racial, Sexual Discrimination In Federal Suit

[DebWilliams-GFN]

By Deb Williams

A $225 million federal suit alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination has been filed against NASCAR by a former Nationwide Series inspector.

In the suit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mauricia Grant, an African American who was responsible for certifying cars in the Nationwide Series from January 2005 until she was fired last October, lists multiple incidents of alleged sexual harassment and alleged racial discrimination during her employment with NASCAR.

The suit states that "NASCAR perpetuated, condoned and actively participated in perverted and disgusting sexual conduct designed to demean and diminish (Grant) and the handful of other women employed by NASCAR as officials."

In addition to Grant, the suit claims officials Heather Gambino and Jane Hayes were fired in 2006 for separately complaining about a sexually hostile work environment. The suit also claims former official Dean Duckett, who was African American, was reprimanded and ultimately fired in November for using “aggressive language toward a white co-worker.”

NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said the sanctioning body had not yet reviewed the suit, but noted that “as an equal opportunity employer NASCAR is fully committed to the spirit and letter of affirmative action law.”

“NASCAR provides equal opportunity employment to job candidates and employees without regard to race, religion, creed, age, gender, or any other characteristic protected by law,” the prepared statement released by Poston read. “Personnel decisions are made based on factors such as performance and adherence to corporate policy.

"With regard to the specific case, NASCAR has a zero tolerance policy for harassment. We won't get into specifics through the media, but we will address all claims fully and in detail in our response to the courts."

NASCAR reportedly had received no notice of a suit being filed and Grant reportedly never filed a formal complaint with NASCAR's HR department.

In the suit, Grant alleged she was referred to as “Queen Sheba” by co-workers and was often told she worked on “colored people time.” She said she was frightened by one official who constantly made references to the Ku Klux Klan. Grant also said she was subjected to graphic and lewd jokes, as well as sexual advances from male co-workers, two of whom allegedly exposed themselves to her.

Those identified in the suit include Nationwide Series director Joe Balash, assistant series director Mike Dolan, supervisors Alan Shephard and Dennis Dillon, NASCAR's senior manager for business relations, the human resources director and 17 of Grant's fellow officials. All of the defendants are white.

In the suit, Grant said she complained on numerous occasions to her supervisors about her treatment, but to no avail. Grant said that once Balash, her immediate supervisor, dismissed her complaints, saying her co-workers were "former military guys" with a rough sense of humor and she had to “deal with it.”

She alleges that Balash participated in the harassment on one occasion. While working in Indianapolis the week of July 28, 2007, she claims that Balash asked, “Does your workout include an urban obstacle course with a flat-screen TV on your back?"

In the federal suit, a series of alleged incidents are detailed. They include:

• Being accused of being gay when she ignored advances from co-workers. She also claims co-workers questioned the sexual orientation of two other female officials.

• Being told by an official to “keep smiling and pop your eyes out 'cause we can't see you” when they were packing up at Texas Motor Speedway in a dark garage.

• Being forced to work outside more than the white male officials because her supervisors believed she couldn't sunburn due to her race.

• Being told by co-workers to duck as they passed race fans at Talladega Superspeedway, because one official allegedly said, “I don't want to start a riot when these fans see a black woman in my car.” Grant said she was riding in the backseat of her carpool at the time.

Grant maintained she routinely complained to her supervisors. She said that two weeks after her final complaint, she was warned during the week of Aug. 18, 2007 at Michigan International Speedway that she had engaged in “conduct unbecoming of a NASCAR representative.” Grant said she was told she would be fired unless she changed her behavior. The warning, she said, stemmed from a confrontation she had with a track official, who stopped her as she passed through a gate to use the restroom.

Approximately two months later, Grant was fired. NASCAR cited poor work performance in terminating Grant. Other than a warning for using “street” language, Grant claims in the suit that she had never been disciplined for job performance and routinely received positive reviews.

Grant claims she continues to suffer from severe emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, nightmares, sleep disturbance, crying jags, headaches and gastrointestinal distress since her firing. She's been unemployed since.

Grant's suit marks the second time an African American has filed a federal suit against NASCAR in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

David Scott, an African American who worked for Michael Kranefuss as his motor coach driver when Kranefuss was co-owner of Penske-Kranefuss Racing in 1999, filed his suit after a 1999 incident at New Hampshire International Speedway in which two fellow motor coach drivers greeted him with one wearing a pillow case over his head as if he were a KKK member. NASCAR suspended both motor coach drivers indefinitely, but Scott claimed NASCAR and International Speedway Corp. discriminated against him by not granting him a vendor contract he sought. He also maintained that NASCAR discriminated against him for not following through with an alleged promise to hire him following the incident.

In January, U.S. District Judge Deborah Batts dismissed Scott's suit, saying the statute of limitations had passed for all of the allegations except for the vendor-contract situation. The judge ordered Scott to re-file the suit to assert a plausible claim and the grounds for it. Scott refiled the suit in February, but in March the judge dismissed the remainder of the case, ruling the new complaint didn't expand on the original one.

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[admin]

NASCAR chairman says Grant did not follow guidelines

By Joe Menzer, NASCAR.COM
June 12, 2008
09:36 AM EDT

CONCORD, N.C. -- Brian France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR, said Wednesday that a former employee who has filed a lawsuit against the organization did not follow clear-cut company guidelines that should have resolved any complaints she had about her co-workers.

Mauricia Grant, who is black, filed a $225 million lawsuit against NASCAR on June 10, alleging racial and sexual discrimination, sexual harassment and wrongful termination. She was employed by NASCAR as a technical inspector responsible for certifying cars in the Nationwide Series from January 2005 through October 2007, when NASCAR terminated her employment, citing poor work performance.

Speaking very briefly about the matter after an unrelated news conference to announce the partnership between Boston Ventures and Petty Enterprises at Lowe's Motor Speedway, France said that Grant had avenues to vent her complaints within the NASCAR organization.

"She didn't do that, and that's what every employee in NASCAR is instructed to do if they think they're in a situation of discrimination or harassment or whatever it might be," France said. "She just didn't do that -- and in fact has now filed a lawsuit as remedy to this problem. You know, we'll deal with that as well. And that's where we are at this time."

France said he did not see the lawsuit coming. "I knew about it this week when the suit was filed," France said.

France added that because Grant did not follow company policy about filing complaints, it was difficult for her superiors to know if she was upset about anything, and to weigh the validity of the accusations she eventually set forth in the lawsuit.

"Again, our policy is such that it's very clear," France said. "We talk to employees all the time about making sure the work environment is a good one. And if it's not, if there are any problems, that they have a very clear path to get it solved. This is just inconsistent with anything we would tolerate in NASCAR. Anything."

In the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Grant lists 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination, beginning with her hiring by NASCAR in January 2005 through her termination.

Grant also alleged she repeatedly attempted to communicate to her superiors about many of the incidents and her subsequent concerns, only to be rebuffed each time.