The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Rizza Cadillac for allegedly subjecting Arab and Muslim employees to harassment and offensive slurs such as "terrorist."
Three employees of the Tinley Park dealership filed complaints with the commission, alleging that along with slurs, which included "terrorist," and "sand n-----," managers made mocking and insulting references to the Qur’an.
Some of the offensive comments were made in front of other managers, Rizza ownership and customers of the dealership, the EEOC said in its lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages.
The employees who filed the lawsuit, along with other Arab and Muslim employees, complained to superiors about the harassment, but the dealership didn’t act on those complaints which began in 2007, the EEOC alleges.
The EEOC said it attempted to resolve the matter with Rizza in July 2012 until January of this year, but a suitable settlement could not be reached.
