A former salesman at Randall Ford in Fort Smith has filed a lawsuit saying he was repeatedly harassed about his religious undergarments and fired because of his faith.
Richard Black, 44, of Van Buren, is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to the lawsuit, which was filed June 17 in Sebastian County Circuit Court and moved to federal court on Friday. Attorneys for Randall Ford hadn't filed a response as of Tuesday afternoon.
The harassment and intimidation violated Black's civil rights, according to the 14-page lawsuit filed by Lauren E. Clark, a Van Buren attorney representing Black.
Black worked for Randall Ford for the first seven months of 2015.
The two-piece undergarments worn by some Mormon church members are considered sacred "temple garments," according to mormonnewsroom.org. The undergarments are worn by adult members of the Mormon church who have made "sacred promises of fidelity to God's commandments and the gospel of Jesus Christ" in Mormon temples.
"Ridiculing or making light of sacred clothing is highly offensive to Latter-day Saints," according to the website.
Black worked under the supervision of three people, one of whom was Jonathan Brassfield, a used-car sales manager, according to the lawsuit.
About two weeks after Black started working for the dealership, Brassfield "began to intrusively question plaintiff about his religious, ethical and moral beliefs," Clark wrote.
Brassfield once initiated a group discussion in the sales office about how many wives Mormons may have, according to the lawsuit.
After Brassfield noticed Black's religious undergarments showing through the top of his dress shirt, Brassfield began to make jokes about them, Clark wrote.
On one occasion, Brassfield teased Black about his undergarments throughout the day, calling them "super underwear," according to the suit.
"At one point, Brassfield physically reached up under plaintiff's work attire and tugged on his religious undergarments," according to the court document. "At that time, plaintiff was standing in Brassfield's sales office attempting to complete a car deal, where several other employees and managers were also present."
In front of them, Brassfield said something to the effect that Black was wearing his "super underwear ... let's see if he can make a car deal today," according to the lawsuit.
Black considered the comments to be "severely offensive, insulting and hostile toward him," wrote Clark in the court filing.
"Plaintiff further felt humiliated and intimidated, which affected his ability to transact business that day and each day thereafter," according to the suit.
Also, Brassfield repeatedly asked Black to lie about prices and deals to sell vehicles, according to the lawsuit.
"Plaintiff was told to be dishonest, and that if he could not be dishonest, he would never be a successful sales consultant," wrote Clark.
Black refused to lie to customers, saying that his religion forbid dishonesty, according to the suit.
When Black complained about Brassfield to the general manager, he was told he needed to get "thicker skin," according to the filing.
Black was fired on July 22, 2015, and told "he was not fitting in."
Black filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Aug. 19, 2015. On March 24, the commission closed the case, saying it was unable to conclude whether federal laws were violated in the case, but that gave Black the right to sue his former employer.
In his filing with the commission, Black wrote that he sold about 10 cars a month while working for Randall Ford, and he got a bonus three times for selling more than 10 cars a month.
Black also noted in the commission filing that the harassment from Brassfield occurred daily.
Clark is requesting a jury trial or a declaratory judgment that Randall Ford violated Black's rights under state and federal law, citing the Arkansas Civil Rights Act of 1993, the Arkansas Constitution and Title VII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. Clark is also requesting unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, saying Black suffered emotional distress and damage to his reputation.
According to its website, Randall Ford has been in business since 1908.
Metro on 07/20/2016