Zillow sued for racist cotton tampon jokes targeting black employees

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Supervisors at Zillow have come under fire in yet another round of lawsuits leveled against the company.

In addition to Rachel Kremer’s sexual harassment suit against the company, five more plaintiffs have filed suit alleging discrimination based on race, age, and religion with the legal group Geragos & Geragos.

Kremer says she received this disgusting text on her phone from a supervisor at the Orange County office: “Joke of the day – A black woman can tell if she is pregnant if she pulls out her tampon and all the cotton has been picked off.”

Zillow replied to the complaints about the text with the following statement:

Zillow does not—and will not—tolerate discrimination or harassment of any kind. We have just been notified of this complaint and are currently investigating these allegations. The referenced text messages reflect completely unacceptable behavior, and the individual allegedly responsible was already terminated as the result of a separate investigation. The alleged behavior is completely inconsistent with Zillow’s culture and core values, where we work hard to create and maintain a work environment that is safe, comfortable and inclusive for everyone.

The suit also includes claims that employees were discouraged from taking lunch breaks and includes this email from the Orange County office supervisors:

“The reason we bring in lunch over the last few days of the month is so folks to take the hour or so they normally would take for lunch and eat at your desk instead so we can be more productive as a team.

It is not okay to take the lunch provided and then leave the office for an hour break at lunch time — this defeats the purpose. Fair?”

Additionally, three African-American men, Stephen Johnson, Reginald Peterson and Ryan Seda, claim that they were discriminated against because of their race. Although they were hired separately, they were all placed in the same sales group under the only African-American sales manager. They claim that Senior Sales Manager Jon Boller referred to them as the “NAACP black coalition” and that certain calls were shifted to their counterparts who were not African-American.

Johnson, who is 45, claims younger supervisors told him he could not keep up with his younger counterparts because of his age. He claims as well that he was told to take down his profile because of phrases like “God over money” and “thank you Lord,” because the managers told him there was no place for religious imagery. However, Johnson says others were able to keep up profiles that included images of partying, drinking and smoking.

Michael Kerr, another plaintiff, claims he has lost 40 percent of his hearing because of managers yelling in his ear and loud techno music being played in the office. He claims that he was moved to a desk even closer to the speakers because he complained about the noise level, which he measured at 80-100 decibels. Kerr tried to file workman’s compensation claims, but he was told his hearing loss was due to his age and given an ultimatum: file the workman’s comp claims or quit. He quit.

Jason Youseph had surgery on a herniated disk and had to go through two weeks of physical therapy. For this absence, he was placed on probation and forced to make up 2,100 minutes of sales calls. When Youseph could not complete the herculean task, he was required to display a letter reprimanding him. After finally catching up on the calls, Youseph was encouraged to rip up the letter, but when he had to have surgery again, the office claimed they fired him for “insubordination” for ripping up the letter.