Pawnshops are just like any other employer in one respect; they are supposed to obey the nation’s employment discrimination laws.
But according to the EEOC, a series of pawnships in Brooklyn and Queens, N.Y. violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act by creating a hostile work environment based on race, sex, and ethnicity (the trifecta, if I may bring in a betting parlor analogy).
The commission’s suit says that the owner of Seapod Pawnbrokers, among other offenses, referred to his Hispanic employees as “Seapod bitches,” threatened women with physical violence and intimidation; and disparaged African-American customers. And when the employees complained, he amped up the hostility and ultimately fired them, the EEOC charged.
The guy was a piece of work, as a New Yorker might put it.
The important thing is that he is stopped from behaving this way and made to pay damages if the allegations stick.
Here’s the EEOC’s announcement of the lawsuit.
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