PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania-based AAMCO Transmissions is facing a major civil rights lawsuit, filed Wednesday by a former corporate executive and franchisee applicant who is Black.
The complaint, filed against AAMCO Transmissions, LLC, CEO James Gregory and former director of franchise development Kimberly Robinson in U.S. District Court, alleges multiple instances of race discrimination, retaliation for opposing race discrimination and other claims.
Jerome Staley of Philadelphia is the first Black executive-level employee at AAMCO Transmissions. He was hired in August 2018 as regional manager for the southeast region. Staley says he excelled in his role, and AAMCO promoted him to vice president of operations for the east region.
Staley says he ranked first in his division for store sales and he performed outstandingly, by the company metrics, but he was paid $40,000 less per year than his white peers.
When Staley brought the pay disparity to AAMCO’s attention and requested equal compensation, AAMCO allegedly refused. The suit claims Gregory told Staley that he was “disappointed” in Staley for complaining about the pay disparity and told him, “You make enough.”
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AAMCO then retaliated against Staley, according to the suit, by denying him a performance-based quarterly bonus to which he was contractually entitled.
Staley’s lawyers say, after AAMCO refused to give him a salary equal to his white counterparts and refused to pay his earned bonus, he resigned. He later applied to become an AAMCO franchisee. Other former AAMCO executives — even those who had been fired — had been approved to become franchisees, but AAMCO wrongfully denied Staley’s application, according to his lawyers.
Meanwhile, the company had featured Staley prominently in its marketing materials just months after the murder of George Floyd.
“Black lives only matter when they want to make mission statements, but it doesn't matter when it's time to actually pay out of their own pockets. And I'm just actually tired about just being a mission statement,” Staley said.
Staley is represented by Peiffer Wolf, a national law firm.
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“Companies like AAMCO are promoting diversity and inclusion, but they are not changing or evolving. AAMCO used Jerome Staley to join the chorus of brands releasing hollow solidarity statements in the wake of George Floyd's murder,” said Joseph Peiffer, managing partner.
Staley says he invested years of his life in a company that valued him only as, what he calls, a Black poster child to promote inclusivity. He says inclusivity at AAMCO is a lie.
“On more than one occasion, I heard AAMCO's CEO, Mr. Gregory, openly say that AAMCO's industry was only for Italians and Jews,” Staley said.
Peiffer says, based on the complaints that come into his office, racism is still running rampant in the workplace and AAMCO should apologize, pay Staley what he was owed and make sure Black and brown employees are paid the same as their white peers.
“Diversity without equity is mere tokenism, and that is never enough,” said Ashlie Sletvold, partner at Peiffer Wolf.
The total amount of compensatory damages being sought was not disclosed.
In a statement, AAMCO’s parent company, American Driveline Systems, told KYW Newsradio: “AAMCO takes these allegations very seriously. While we cannot discuss the details of these claims due to the pendency of the litigation, we can say that they are without merit and we will vigorously defend against them.”
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