Wednesday, January 2, 2019

The 2nd nominee for the “worst employer of 2019” is … the little rascal racist

Welcome to 2019. New year, same old employers earning themselves nominations for my annual race to the bottom.

Darryl Robinson, the only African-American employee in his Marriott Vacations Worldwide office, claims he was subjected to repeated racial harassment during his 11 months of employment.

NBC News offers the allegations.

  • Robinson alleges that a director of sales repeatedly asked him to dance to music by Michael Jackson during sales meetings.

  • While complimenting his staff, the director of sales said, "Daryl looks ready to breakdance."

  • Robinson claims that the company did not provide him a cubicle like every other sales rep, but instead required him to work out of a cramped storage closet without air conditioning.  

  • Robinson suggested that there was no need for him to a take part in team building exercise involving employees' baby photos, since he was the only African-American in the office. A colleague told him that if he opted out, she'd just use a photo of Buckwheat. True to her word, she inserted a Buckwheat photo and asked the team: "Who do you guys think this is?"

For its part, Marriott Vacations Worldwide provided a solid "no comment."

2019 is off to a rousing start. Do you have an employer to nominate as this year's "Worst Employer?" Email me at jhyman@meyersroman.com, or drop a comment below.