November 18, 1995
Black workers charge Ford with race discrimination
Associated PressMINNEAPOLIS -- Fifteen black salaried employees of Ford Motor Co. filed a class-action lawsuit Friday, accusing the No. 2 automaker of race discrimination in promotions and pay.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court here, says Ford discourages black employees from seeking promotional opportunities and "facilitates the preselection of white employees" for job advancement.
Black workers "are required to perform better and be on jobs longer ... before promotional opportunities are made available to them," the lawsuit says.
A Ford statement said the firm has an "exemplary record in the hiring, advancement and compensation of African-American employees."
The plaintiffs, employed by Ford in St. Paul, Detroit and Tulsa, Okla., seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as court-ordered relief for promotions and modification of Ford's pay and promotion structure.
"This is a company-wide attack on how Ford treats its African-American salaried employees," said Ross Plaetzer, a Minneapolis employment law specialist and the lawyer for the Ford workers.
The lawsuit says Ford has no objective method to make decisions about advancement and pay, and that the inevitable result is that its black salaried employees fare worse than white workers in both categories.
Plaetzer estimated the potential class could include as many as 6,000 present and past black salaried employees of Ford. Hourly workers, such as those on assembly lines, who sought promotions to salaried positions are also included in the potential class, he said.
"This case goes to the heart of Ford's company culture and the way it does business with its black salaried employees," said Plaetzer. "Ford has a loyal following among black car and light-truck buyers, but it has not treated its AfricanAmerican employees fairly," he said.
Ford spokesman Jon Harmon said the suit appears to be "a carbon copy" of litigation pending in the eastern district of Michigan for more than two years brought by a firm Plaetzer recently left.
"We are very familiar with these allegations and are confident they will not withstand scrutiny," Harmon said.
Ford employs about 4,000 black salaried workers out of a nationwide salaried workforce of 45,000 employees.
Copyright 1995, The Detroit News
>NASSER URGES MORE EFFORT TO ATTRACT MINORITIES AS CUSTOMERS
NEW YORK, January 15, 1998 -- Jac Nasser, president of Ford Automotive Operations, joined the Rev. Jesse Jackson today to open the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Wall Street Project anniversary with a call for greater effort to attract customers from the African-American and Hispanic markets.
Nasser also described the work that Ford Motor Company has done to increase business opportunities for minorities. Ford, for example, leads the U.S. auto industry in the number of minority dealerships. In 1997, Ford did more than $2 billion in business with minority suppliers.
"Respectable accomplishments," Nasser said, "but we can and must do better."
As businesses expand globally, Nasser noted that there are markets here at home "where overseas competition has stolen the march on us. I don't like that development because these customers could and should be our customers," he said.
Minority markets approach $1 trillion in buying power. "They impose no trade barriers, they come with no currency risk, they don't require start-up costs, and no long lead times are needed to build brand and name recognition," Nasser said. "Greater inclusion of minorities is a priority for two reasons. It's the right thing to do. It's also good business," Nasser added.