B&H settles EEOC bias lawsuit for $4.3 million.

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NY's B&H store settles job bias lawsuit for $4.3M

NEW YORK (AP) -- B&H electronics retailer in New York City has settled a job discrimination lawsuit on behalf of 149 Latino warehouse workers for $4.3 million.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said Wednesday a federal judge in Manhattan approved the settlement. The federal agency had accused B&H of paying the Manhattan and Brooklyn workers less than other workers, and denying them promotions and health benefits because they were Latino.
 
Wow ... you'd think if they were ripping off the Latinos that badly their film might have been a little cheaper.

I've always shopped at Freestyle! :p
 
Hmm. Makes me want to not buy anything from them anymore. And the film prices are better at Adorama, anyway.
 
i remember on my visit there were an unusual number of latinos working in the checkout area and thought there must be some reason why, i'm sure i wasn't the only person who noticed this.
 
endustry said:
I didn't even know this was going on. B&H always seems like a pretty diverse place in terms of employees. Honestly this is one of the last places I'd associate with discrimination. Whodathunkit.
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maybe truth is not found in a jury settlement.:rolleyes:

i thought guys who shoot leica and admire journalism would know it already.
 
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wow. wish I'd known. I would have shopped elsewhere. I think I'll start paying more attention to Adorama.

/
 
Isn't a B&H director or part owner a member of RFF ... I seem to remember him posting in a thread a while ago?

I think we need to be careful not to indulge in 'trial by internet forum' here!
 
Keith said:
Isn't a B&H director or part owner a member of RFF ... I seem to remember him posting in a thread a while ago?

I think we need to be careful not to indulge in 'trial by internet forum' here!
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You're probably thinking of Henry Posner. He's a member of a lot of photo forums, where he helps people who have had problems with B&H and answers questions. I think he's a manager, not an owner, but I might be wrong. He seems like a nice guy who goes out of his way to help his company's customers.
 
Chriscrawfordphoto said:
You're probably thinking of Henry Posner. He's a member of a lot of photo forums, where he helps people who have had problems with B&H and answers questions. I think he's a manager, not an owner, but I might be wrong. He seems like a nice guy who goes out of his way to help his company's customers.
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Yes that was him ... thanks Chris. I can't remember what the thread was about but remember he seemed like a nice guy ... hiring and employment policies are probably not his jurisdiction.
 
A company where I used to work made a similar settlement back in the '90's; there wasn't anything behind it.

B&H settlement figure sounds like "go away money".
 
endustry said:
I didn't even know this was going on. B&H always seems like a pretty diverse place in terms of employees. Honestly this is one of the last places I'd associate with discrimination. Whodathunkit.
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lol. Sarcasm right? Two years ago you'd be hard pressed to find a goyim anywhere in the place.

They're surprisingly diverse now.

Adorama was the same way, although never to the extent that a large scale operation like B&H was.

But you can hardly blame them. Despite their large size and sales influence they are a privately owned business. Have you ever seen a non Asian working at a Chinese restaurant?
 
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swoop said:
lol. Sarcasm right? Two years ago you'd be hard pressed to find a goyim anywhere in the place.

They're surprisingly diverse now.

Adorama was the same way, although never to the extent that a large scale operation like B&H was.

But you can hardly blame them. Despite their large size and sales influence they are a privately owned business. Have you ever seen a non Asian working at a Chinese restaurant?
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I agree that they're privately owned but that doesn't mean that they have the right to underpay workers merely because they're a different race. Underpaying them because they are under performing in their job duties, that's a different matter, but if it's based solely on race/creed/culture/religion/etc. it is discriminatory in my book. Mind you, this is a "settlement" which means B&H avoids a trial and potential "judgment" that they are, in fact, discriminatory in their labour practices.

And personally, yes, I have seen non-Asians working in a Chinese restaurant. Just like I've met "good ole white folk" that aren't KKK members.

Just because someone belongs to a particular race/creed/culture/religion/sexual orientation/etc. does not mean that a stereotype applies to the entire race/creed/culture/religion/sexual orientation/etc.

Dave
 
dcsang said:
And personally, yes, I have seen non-Asians working in a Chinese restaurant. Just like I've met "good ole white folk" that aren't KKK members.
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Do they even have the KKK in Canada? A better analogy would be saying that you've seen non-whites in the Klan (as it is an all-white group, much like NY camera shops are often alleged to be all-Jewish)
 
If the facts of this case are true (and there's no reason to believe otherwise), then I have no problem with the outcome.

This is one of those times when government works as it should and looks out for the common man.

More from the bottom of this article:

"The EEOC plans to monitor B&H for five years.

"The EEOC also settled two other lawsuits. One was for $300,000 with Adelphi University, which the agency had accused of paying women professors less than their male counterparts.

"The other settlement was for $272,000 with Qualex Inc., an Eastman Kodak subsidiary the EEOC had accused of unfairly firing older employees."​
 
There's a nearby Chinese resaurant that I frequent. In the last year or so it was purchased by a black Haitian gentleman. He kept all of the employees, kept the same name and menu, but it does seem strange to enter a Chnese restaurant and be greeted by a black guy with a Kreyole accent.
 
In case some people here never heard about, many (A LOT) of Chinese restaurants here in US are not run nor owned by Chinese.
Do you have to be Italian to cook italian food?

Back to the topic, I used to go to B&H at least once a month and I have never seen non-Jewish workers in the store. The hispanic workers mentioned might be working in the storage house or something.
 
endustry said:
I didn't even know this was going on. B&H always seems like a pretty diverse place in terms of employees. Honestly this is one of the last places I'd associate with discrimination. Whodathunkit.
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Are you kidding? Have you spent more than 5 minutes there. I hope this is sarcasm.

I have been to Adorama a handful of times .EVERY time they act like I'm not worth the trouble. I have to wait for ever for help and then when I get it, I feel rushed into buying.
 
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fbf said:
In case some people here never heard about, many (A LOT) of Chinese restaurants here in US are not run nor owned by Chinese.
Do you have to be Italian to cook italian food?

Back to the topic, I used to go to B&H at least once a month and I have never seen non-Jewish workers in the store. The hispanic workers mentioned might be working in the storage house or something.
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I've been going to B&H since 2004 and have seen a number of workers who appear to be latino and/or simply not dressed in the typical Hasidim fashion since then (although it doesn't mean they are not jewish).
 
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