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(title edited by Frazzled for grammer to comport to topic because Frazzled Mod is best Mod)
I'm a bit at odds today...actually,Im fething PO'd.

Today at work,a co-workers and myself overheard our "boss" unleash a flood of racial slurs over our managers radio,his statements were directed against a group of African American customers who were waiting on service who he felt were being "impatient".
The "N-word" was used several times,along with several other colorful slurs.
My co-worker,who is African American, is furious, I myself,while not African American,do have an African American girlfriend with whom I have two children...so I'm having a hard time not knocking this mans teeth out.
The problem is,we are unsure as to how to proceed,of course violence (while terribly satisfying) whould be a bad idea,so...what to do?
While legal entanglements are often "cut and dry" in the fantasy world of movies and T.V,in the real world,things don't always work that way,and we (my co-workers and I) have familys to support.

I am honestly enraged,but short of kicking this racist creatins face in, I am stuck on my next course of action.
Any ideas might help,especialy from any Dakkites with a background in labor law.
Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Did the customers hear the abuse?
Sorry - am not clear if the radio means the store tannoy speaker system.

No,the customers didn't hear anything,the "radios" are personal "walkie talkies" that all the managers carry.
The boss obviously thought he was speaking privately,my co-worker and I just happen to over hear what he was saying.

Any reason why he did it? Was he having a bad day?sometimes people who are very stressed get to far and mean things they dont. If he wasnt you should look up labor laws in your area or the person higher then him. not hear on an internet forum. maybe get a paralegal and see if you got a case.

Wow. I don't think I've heard anyone actually say that word in real life for years (rap songs and films don't count!) - I can imagine it would be quite shocking, especially given your family situation. Kudos to you for keeping your cool, man. I don't think I would be able to stop myself from chinning the prick if I was in your shoes.
As far as recourse to legal action goes...well, I'm no lawyer. Or American. Or American lawyer.

However, it doesn't seem like there's much you can do, unfortunately. I mean, he didn't say it to you and by the sound of it he didn't say it to the customers, he didn't actively discriminate against them and even if he did, it would be difficult to know what to do about it. You crazy Americans with your 'free speech' and your 'horseless carriages'! What will you think of next?

I imagine labour laws are a lot looser over there than they are here. If you were African-American yourself you could perhaps argue that you felt victimised by your employer's overt racism, but other than that.... I'm drawing a blank. Sorry, mate.


How's the puppy, BTW? Destroyed all your furniture yet?

garret wrote:Any reason why he did it? Was he having a bad day?sometimes people who are very stressed get to far and mean things they dont. If he wasnt you should look up labor laws in your area or the person higher then him. not hear on an internet forum. maybe get a paralegal and see if you got a case.

I'm not sure what his "reasons" might be,nor do I particularly care.
As far as "people higher up than him",he owns the shop...so,no one higher on the "chain of command".
I am however considering looking into legal action...just not sure how it will play out,based on the "evidence"

FITZZ wrote:

garret wrote:Any reason why he did it? Was he having a bad day?sometimes people who are very stressed get to far and mean things they dont. If he wasnt you should look up labor laws in your area or the person higher then him. not hear on an internet forum. maybe get a paralegal and see if you got a case.

I'm not sure what his "reasons" might be,nor do I particularly care.

Well, exactly. Give a feth for his reasons. You don't say that word. It should be consigned to the dustbin of history.

FITZZ wrote:

garret wrote:Any reason why he did it? Was he having a bad day?sometimes people who are very stressed get to far and mean things they dont. If he wasnt you should look up labor laws in your area or the person higher then him. not hear on an internet forum. maybe get a paralegal and see if you got a case.

I'm not sure what his "reasons" might be,nor do I particularly care.
As far as "people higher up than him",he owns the shop...so,no one higher on the "chain of command".
I am however considering looking into legal action...just not sure how it will play out,based on the "evidence"

I think you should atleast hear out what his reasons are.

Or else... well

Honestly i think your best course of action is to forget about it. If you do bring legal action alot of things could happen. he could lose the shop because of legal fees or get mad and make your time there miserable. Or if you arenot careful fire you.

Bad day or not he is aware of the ethnicity of his staff and customers who should be treated more respectfully.

Non racial cussing would suffice to vent steam if he his stressed.

Assume there is no one at work to take it to else you would have done that or mentioned it.

LunaHound wrote:

FITZZ wrote:

garret wrote:Any reason why he did it? Was he having a bad day?sometimes people who are very stressed get to far and mean things they dont. If he wasnt you should look up labor laws in your area or the person higher then him. not hear on an internet forum. maybe get a paralegal and see if you got a case.

I'm not sure what his "reasons" might be,nor do I particularly care.
As far as "people higher up than him",he owns the shop...so,no one higher on the "chain of command".
I am however considering looking into legal action...just not sure how it will play out,based on the "evidence"

I think you should atleast hear out what his reasons are.

Or else... well

So if someone made a racial slur based on your ethnicity and you heard it, you would give that person the benefit of the doubt? You would just say 'oh well, he must have just been having a bad day!'

Yeah. Right. Good one.

Albatross wrote:Wow. I don't think I've heard anyone actually say that word in real life for years (rap songs and films don't count!) - I can imagine it would be quite shocking, especially given your family situation. Kudos to you for keeping your cool, man. I don't think I would be able to stop myself from chinning the prick if I was in your shoes.
As far as recourse to legal action goes...well, I'm no lawyer. Or American. Or American lawyer.

However, it doesn't seem like there's much you can do, unfortunately. I mean, he didn't say it to you and by the sound of it he didn't say it to the customers, he didn't actively discriminate against them and even if he did, it would be difficult to know what to do about it. You crazy Americans with your 'free speech' and your 'horseless carriages'! What will you think of next?

I imagine labour laws are a lot looser over there than they are here. If you were African-American yourself you could perhaps argue that you felt victimised by your employer's overt racism, but other than that.... I'm drawing a blank. Sorry, mate.


How's the puppy, BTW? Destroyed all your furniture yet?

Yeah Bro. it was extreamly difficult not "flying off the handle."
I'm currently looking into "hostile work enviorment" laws to see if they may be aplilied...but still unsure...you know us zany Americans and our "vauge laws"

And the puppy is doing just great,he has eaten about half the stuff I own in the past few months.

FITZZ wrote:

Albatross wrote:Wow. I don't think I've heard anyone actually say that word in real life for years (rap songs and films don't count!) - I can imagine it would be quite shocking, especially given your family situation. Kudos to you for keeping your cool, man. I don't think I would be able to stop myself from chinning the prick if I was in your shoes.
As far as recourse to legal action goes...well, I'm no lawyer. Or American. Or American lawyer.

However, it doesn't seem like there's much you can do, unfortunately. I mean, he didn't say it to you and by the sound of it he didn't say it to the customers, he didn't actively discriminate against them and even if he did, it would be difficult to know what to do about it. You crazy Americans with your 'free speech' and your 'horseless carriages'! What will you think of next?

I imagine labour laws are a lot looser over there than they are here. If you were African-American yourself you could perhaps argue that you felt victimised by your employer's overt racism, but other than that.... I'm drawing a blank. Sorry, mate.


How's the puppy, BTW? Destroyed all your furniture yet?

Yeah Bro. it was extreamly difficult not "flying of the handle."
I'm currently looking into "hostile work enviorment" laws to see if they may be aplilied...but still unsure...you know us zany Americans and our "vauge laws"

And the puppy is doing just great,he has eaten about half the stuff I own in the past few months.

Well, just be careful with leaving your minis lying around. As the old saying (that I've just made up) goes:

'Dogs can choke on Nobz.'

Albatross wrote:So if someone made a racial slur based on your ethnicity and you heard it, you would give that person the benefit of the doubt? You would just say 'oh well, he must have just been having a bad day!'Yeah. Right. Good one.

Actually i would still ask what happened first.

Im sorry that you and i behave differently , but thats no reason to say i wouldnt?

garret wrote:Honestly i think your best course of action is to forget about it. If you do bring legal action alot of things could happen. he could lose the shop because of legal fees or get mad and make your time there miserable. Or if you arenot careful fire you.

Not quite sure if I would care if he lost his shop or not,other than the fact it would put alot of good people out of work.
As for him getting angry...well shame on me for not pasively accepting that sort of racist gak.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

LunaHound wrote:

Albatross wrote:So if someone made a racial slur based on your ethnicity and you heard it, you would give that person the benefit of the doubt? You would just say 'oh well, he must have just been having a bad day!'Yeah. Right. Good one.

Actually i would still ask what happened first.

Im sorry that you and i behave differently , but thats no reason to say i wouldnt?

Actually Luna,there is no great mystery as to why he said what he said,I live in the American South,where racism is alive and well (just hidden),the man was speaking in a manner that many people do when they belive "no one is listening".

* Not saying that all Southeners are racist (I'm a Southener myself) *

That is what i am talking about. In this economy you have to make sure you dont lose your job. what he said it was wrong but you dont want to lose your job and not be able to support your kids you mentioned.

LunaHound wrote:

Albatross wrote:So if someone made a racial slur based on your ethnicity and you heard it, you would give that person the benefit of the doubt? You would just say 'oh well, he must have just been having a bad day!'Yeah. Right. Good one.

Actually i would still ask what happened first.

Im sorry that you and i behave differently , but thats no reason to say i wouldnt?

If someone made a racist remark about Asian people right in front of you, you'd just give that person the benefit of the doubt? I find that difficult to believe given the number of internet arguments you seem to get into. You never seem to assume Shuma is having 'a bad day', and he's never done anything to you that is remotely close to being as bad as using racist language in front of you.

Checking into the hostile work environment laws is a good start. Do you work for a store chain? You may be able to get him promoted to customer and have somebody else take his place. Most companies have policies to prevent people from getting away with this. If he owns the business the worst you could do is get proof and force him to pay unemployment for creating a hostile work environment. Unless you can get a lot of proof then you can sue him and live easy while you find a new job.

garret wrote:That is what i am talking about. In this economy you have to make sure you dont lose your job. what he said it was wrong but you dont want to lose your job and not be able to support your kids you mentioned.

I understand how piss poor the economy is,especialy here in the south,and my need to support my family is my main reason for not going absolutely berzerk today.
However,when I look at my kids...and think about this mans comments,it makes me sick that I work for,and indeed line the pockets of,such a piece of gak.

Albatross wrote:

LunaHound wrote:

Albatross wrote:So if someone made a racial slur based on your ethnicity and you heard it, you would give that person the benefit of the doubt? You would just say 'oh well, he must have just been having a bad day!'Yeah. Right. Good one.

Actually i would still ask what happened first.

Im sorry that you and i behave differently , but thats no reason to say i wouldnt?

If someone made a racist remark about Asian people right in front of you, you'd just give that person the benefit of the doubt?

See thats where we differ. You assume that i have no issue with someone racist , but thats all it is assumptions.
Now you see , i dont bunch the 2 issues together as one atleast not yet, i treat them separately.
Whether the guy is racist or not is irrelevant to me when im curious to what happend . and the "impatience" OP first mentioned have contributed how much to the degree of his boss's action.
THEN after that i can determine the degree of how much his boss is a ******** .
I guess its safe to say... You just want to nail the racist guy. and im interested in finding out what happened , nailing the racist guy
can wait after i find out. Anymore questions?

I find that difficult to believe given the number of internet arguments you seem to get into. You never seem to assume Shuma is having 'a bad day', and he's never done anything to you that is remotely close to being as bad as using racist language in front of you.

Drama~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

rocklord2004 wrote:Checking into the hostile work environment laws is a good start. Do you work for a store chain? You may be able to get him promoted to customer and have somebody else take his place. Most companies have policies to prevent people from getting away with this. If he owns the business the worst you could do is get proof and force him to pay unemployment for creating a hostile work environment. Unless you can get a lot of proof then you can sue him and live easy while you find a new job.

He owns the company,and while in the past he has been very abusive of his position (verbally hostile,etc),this is the first time I have heard him speak the way he did today...of course,he knows my family "situation",so I doubt he would say what he did if he knew I could hear him.
As for "proof" 3 employes heard his comments...so I guess it would be a case of "we say...he says",if it comes to that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
@ Luna

We deal with "impatient" customers every minute of the day,our clients are all very wealthy and want what they want ten minutes ago...so dealing with "impaitents" is a daily situation.
IMO, he had no reason to say what he said ,other than holding those views.

Talk to some of your local News outfits. Some reporters can be pretty helpful with stuff like this.

LunaHound wrote:

Albatross wrote:

LunaHound wrote:

Albatross wrote:So if someone made a racial slur based on your ethnicity and you heard it, you would give that person the benefit of the doubt? You would just say 'oh well, he must have just been having a bad day!'Yeah. Right. Good one.

Actually i would still ask what happened first.

Im sorry that you and i behave differently , but thats no reason to say i wouldnt?

If someone made a racist remark about Asian people right in front of you, you'd just give that person the benefit of the doubt? I find that difficult to believe given the number of internet arguments you seem to get into. You never seem to assume Shuma is having 'a bad day', and he's never done anything to you that is remotely close to being as bad as using racist language in front of you.

See thats where we differ. You assume that i have no issue with someone racist , but thats all it is assumptions.
Now you see , i dont bunch the 2 issues together as one atleast not yet, i treat them separately.
Whether the guy is racist or not is irrelevant to me when im curious to what happend . and the "impatience" OP first mentioned have contributed how much to the degree of his boss's action.
THEN after that i can determine the degree of how much his boss is a ******** .

Yeah, it's the internet la-la-la everything is a rhetorical exercise, a for-the-sake-of-argument paintball game, where nothing really matters but everything counts.....

Meanwhile, back in the real world... We're talking about a guy whose wife is African-American, and whose kids are mixed-race. We're also talking about an employer who said vile things about African-American customers. What on earth gives you the right to act all superior and say stuff like 'I think you should hear what his reasons are'? Reasons? What possible reasons can you think of that would make such behaviour acceptable?

I'm all ears.


Well, eyes.

Mistress of minis wrote:Talk to some of your local News outfits. Some reporters can be pretty helpful with stuff like this.

My co-worker ( one who heard the bosses comments) was thinking along these exact lines,along with going to his church group,who in the past have organized protest against "racist establishments".

FITZZ wrote: @ Luna

We deal with "impatient" customers every minute of the day,our clients are all very wealthy and want what they want ten minutes ago...so dealing with "impaitents" is a daily situation.
IMO, he had no reason to say what he said ,other than holding those views.

Make no mistake Fitzz , that im reacting different than you because I dont know your boss.
You work with him everyday, and i only know from what i see in this thread. By all means he probably deserves all the reactions
you are having if not more , but alas I dont know him , so i cant just judge him right away?

So if i have lack of enthusiasm to want to burn the racist guy to the stakes i apologize to you and albatross now.

And because impatience from different people have different actions , some are just minor inconvenience while some are full blown trouble.
Because i have no idea what exactly happened to your boss , i dont want to burn him yet , is that fair?

Albatross wrote:

Meanwhile, back in the real world... We're talking about a guy whose wife is African-American, and whose kids are mixed-race. We're also talking about an employer who said vile things about African-American customers. What on earth gives you the right to act all superior and say stuff like 'I think you should hear what his reasons are'? Reasons? What possible reasons can you think of that would make such behaviour acceptable?

I'm all ears.


Well, eyes.

Albatross , im not sure if you know this or not... Im not caucasian. If anyone know racist , i have experience it myself first hand.
Im not acting superior , you are very stubborn or ignorant to say that. I have say it earlier , and i will say it again.

I simply go through different steps and in different order before going insane compared to you.

Maybe you go through A B C D E
maybe i go through A C B ( wow shorter temper than you! ) but never the less , its different thinking process.

unless he actually insulted workers or customer i doupt the news would give it the time of day.

LunaHound wrote:

FITZZ wrote: @ Luna

We deal with "impatient" customers every minute of the day,our clients are all very wealthy and want what they want ten minutes ago...so dealing with "impaitents" is a daily situation.
IMO, he had no reason to say what he said ,other than holding those views.

Make no mistake Fitzz , that im reacting different than you because I dont know your boss.
You work with him everyday, and i only know from what i see in this thread. By all means he probably deserves all the reactions
you are having if not more , but alas I dont know him , so i cant just judge him right away?

So if i have lack of enthusiasm to want to burn the racist guy to the stakes i apologize to you and albatross now.

And because impatience from different people have different actions , some are just minor inconvenience while some are full blown trouble.
Because i have no idea what exactly happened to your boss , i dont want to burn him yet , is that fair?

I'm personally waiting for you to enlighten me as to when the use of the N-word by a white man to describe people of colour is acceptable.


It's got nothing to do with a 'hair-trigger' reaction to percieved racism - I have no particular desire to 'nail' anyone, racist or otherwise. All I'm saying is that if I was in FITTZ's shoes I would be SUPER pissed off. In the real world people don't encounter that situation and think to themselves 'perhaps he's just having a bad day'.

feth his bad day. You don't say that word.

LunaHound wrote:

FITZZ wrote: @ Luna

We deal with "impatient" customers every minute of the day,our clients are all very wealthy and want what they want ten minutes ago...so dealing with "impaitents" is a daily situation.
IMO, he had no reason to say what he said ,other than holding those views.

Make no mistake Fitzz , that im reacting different than you because I dont know your boss.
You work with him everyday, and i only know from what i see in this thread. By all means he probably deserves all the reactions
you are having if not more , but alas I dont know him , so i cant just judge him right away?

So if i have lack of enthusiasm to want to burn the racist guy to the stakes i apologize to you and albatross now.

And because impatience from different people have different actions , some are just minor inconvenience while some are full blown trouble.
Because i have no idea what exactly happened to your boss , i dont want to burn him yet , is that fair?

While I understand what your saying Luna,there is an array of "curses" that he could have chosen to use...
" These damn pain in the *** Mother ****** keep complaining about the wait,Get these Mother**** out of here as quick as you can.",if he had said that...I'd have no problem.
It is the words he chose to use,hateful words I have no tolerance for,that I am angry about.
So,while I understand that you would want to "get all the facts" before passing judgement,I find his use of those words inexcusable.

garret wrote:If he actually insulted workers or customer i doupt the news would give it the time of day.

There are quite a few journalists and news reporters who love smashing rich people and business owners for racist statements and activities, even in the south. I say go ahead and let them know. If things work out well enough then your boss will have to make a public apology and be fearful of firing anybody who isn't white. Due to your situation you should be safe as well Fitzz because of your girlfriend and children.

In my experience, there are many people I know, friends or people around me who are fine with using the N word. (not me though) Their reasoning goes, the time in which those words were really used badly is gone and they have (relatively) no connection to the events of those times so it is all in the past. The words aren't symbols of oppression anymore but just another word to call someone you know. Like saying hey man, you suck. While they may also use slurs of many sorts it is jokingly and in the atmosphere around them (being teenagers and all) acceptable and not taken offensively. They do however take offense to actual racism. When the words take on the meanings they had in the past it is no longer acceptable. I don't know if what I wrote made too much sense so to recap, words are cheap, they mean nothing, actual racist mentalities and attitudes are very bad.