Fourteen Dominican workers have filed a discrimination and sexual harassment suit against a major moving company in Seacaucus, New Jersey.
The men, most of them recent immigrants, allege they were regularly called names, groped and retaliated against for complaining about conditions.
"The harassment was, you know, on a daily basis," said attorney Steven Arenson, who is representing the men. "The supervisors and managers — both Latin and American — saying, 'Dominicans are animals,' 'Dominicans are lazy,' 'Dominicans aren't worth anything.'"
The lawsuit describes an atmosphere where sexually explicit comments were regularly made and where one man would regularly expose himself. Dominican workers would complain about being touched and grabbed only to be ignored by supervisors, Arenson said.
“Whenever they brought a complaint about discrimination or something else they were told, 'If you don’t like it, there’s the door,'" Arenson said.
The complaint also alleges that in 2009 many, if not all, Puerto Rican workers at the company received $2 raises while Dominican workers got no raise.
The men were earning roughly $11 an hour working in a warehouse that receives furniture and appliances from major retailers who hire the company to deliver to customers, according to Arenson.
Home Delivery America has accounts with major retailers such as Sears and General Electric, according to its website,. The company says it hasn't received the lawsuit and could not comment.
WNYC offered to provide the lawsuit but Jane Quan-Shau, VP of Risk Management, said there wouldn’t be enough time to review it.
Arenson said three of the men continue to work for Home Delivery America while the rest were either fired or laid off.