Cacs Cacing: AT&T Fires President Over Racist Text; $100M Lawsuit Goes On

[playahaitian]

AT&T Fires President Over Racist Text; $100M Lawsuit Goes On

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- AT&T has confirmed that it has fired Aaron Slator, a president who became the subject of a $100 million discrimination lawsuit for using his work phone to send racially offensive images.

AT&T said in a statement that Slator has been terminated, saying that there is no place for demeaning behavior within the company. The company says it regretted not taking the action earlier.

On Monday, Knoyme (NOH-mee) King, a 50-year-old black woman who worked for Slator, filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court against Slator, the company and its CEO, Randall Stephenson.

King's lawyer, Skip Miller, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the suit will continue and alleged that racism permeates the company. He said its board of directors was aware of the offensive images for over a year.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...suit-offensive-picture-message-cellphone.html

 

[playahaitian]

AT&T fired one of its presidents over a racist text

AT&T has confirmed to Business Insider that it has fired Aaron Slator, the subject of a lawsuit after a text that used the racially charged "n" word was found on his phone.

An AT&T spokesperson sent us this statement. "Aaron Slator has been terminated. There is no place for demeaning behavior within AT&T and we regret the action was not taken earlier."

A lawsuit has been filed against Slator and numerous other AT&T execs on behalf of Knoyme King, a 50-year-old African-American woman and a 30-year employee of AT&T. King alleges that she "witnessed-and experienced race and age discrimination" at her job and she's seeking $100 million in damages.

The text in question depicts a black child who is dancing with the caption "It's Friday [offensive N word]" sent in a text describing the picture as an "oldie but a goodie," the lawsuit said.​

The lawsuit also alleges that another photo was found on Slator's phone, a less-than-flattering picture of a black woman standing on the subway. Both the text and the photo are included as evidence in the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.

This is not to be confused with the $10 billion dollar lawsuit against AT&T and DirecTV in December by The National Association of African American Owned Media (NAAAOM) that also alleged for race discrimination. NAAAOM said it was concerned over a lack of contracts spent with 100% African American-owned media companies.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/att-...-slator-over-racist-text-2015-4#ixzz3Yn9HcpCm

 

[playahaitian]

Telecom firm AT&T Inc. said Tuesday it fired Aaron Slator, the company's president of content and advertising sales, for allegedly using his work phone to send out racially discriminatory images. Slator has become the subject of a $100 million discrimination lawsuit, which was filed Monday by an employee, Knoyme King, a 50-year-old black woman.

The case was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and named Slator, AT&T, CEO Randall Stephenson, other executives and board member Joyce Roche, as defendants, the Associated Press reported. Slator managed budget for the Dallas-based firm's content acquisition.

One of the images found on Slator's phone showed an African child dancing, alongside a caption that read: “It's Friday N*****." Slator had reportedly sent the picture in a text message, referring to it as an "oldie but a goodie.” The photographs were found on his phone by an assistant who was told to transfer data to a new phone, the AP reported, citing the lawsuit.​

The company said, in a statement, according to the AP: "There is no place for demeaning behavior within AT&T, and we regret the action was not taken earlier.”

King also said she was held back from promotions as the company favored less qualified and “non-African American” employees, the Daily Mail reported, citing the lawsuit. She alleged she was subjected to a campaign of harassment just because she was close to Slator’s assistant who found the images. The lawsuit comes as the company faces a $10 billion claim, which states that AT&T discriminates when it contracts with 100 percent-owned African-American media.

"Slator harbors obvious and deep-seated racial animus toward African Americans," the lawsuit said, according to the New York Daily News, adding: "Slator's decisions regarding hiring, firing, promotions and raises are infected by his racism."​

The lawsuit also said, according to the Daily Mail: “The appropriate reaction - the morally responsible and legally required one - would have been for AT&T to take steps to remedy this past, and to prevent future, racism by its top television content executive,” adding: “AT&T did not do this. Instead, AT&T's engaged in an illegal cover-up, to ensure that its racism remained hidden-even at the expense of long-term, loyal African American employees.”

King's lawyer Louis (Skip) Miller said that Slator’s termination from the company will not affect the lawsuit.

"If anything, it's an admission of liability. It proves we're right, that it all happened. ... The issues in this case are age, race and gender discrimination, and they don't stop with Aaron Slator. These images and issues were reported a year and a half ago, and the company swept them under the rug,” he told the New York Daily News.​