As if Orange County needed to further show the world it ain't the friendliest place for black people comes this: Foothill Ranch-based Wet Seal announced it settled a federal class-action lawsuit alleging it discriminated against African-American employees for a cool $7.5 million.
The lawsuit, though filed in SanTana, deals with Philadelphia-area plaintiffs, and in the course of discover there emerged an email by a Wet Seal exec stating “Store Teams – need diversification African American dominate – huge issue.”
Betcha Wet Seal doesn't send out similar emails complaining of all the gabachas who work its OC stores, eh?
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All of this came from a 2009 Philly visit by Wet Seal execs, according to Philly.com, who immediately began whispering among each other that the stores they visited supposedly had too many African-American workers in them. One store manager alleged in the suit that a district manager fired her the next day, reason being she was black.
The payout comes at a particularly bad time for the company, which just underwent layoffs, continues to see its profits drop, and recently hired a new CEO. That poor sap put out a statement saying, “We are pleased to put this matter behind us as we continue to be committed to nondiscriminatory employment practices that create a welcome environment for people of all backgrounds.”
Stay classy, Orange County!
