AT&T terminated the employment of the president of its U-Verse business accused of racial discrimination by a female African American employee.
In a statement on Tuesday, AT&T confirmed that Aaron Slator, president of U-Verse business has been fired from his position due to his humiliating behavior. Slator used his work phone to send racially offensive images.
“Aaron Slator has been terminated. There is no place for demeaning behavior within AT&T, and we regret the action was not taken earlier,” according to AT&T.
Accusations against Slator
Knoyme King, a 50-year old African-American lady, filed a discrimination lawsuit against Slator, AT&T, CEO Randal Stephenson, other executives and board member Joyce Randall. King claimed that she was racially harassed during her employment at the company.
In her lawsuit, King claimed that Slator asked her to transfer data to a new phone. The data includes text messages and a photo of African children smiling and dancing with a caption “It’s Friday …” followed by the “N” word offensive to black people. The photo was sent in a text message describing it as an “oldie but a goodie.”
Racial discrimination is an AT&T problem
Skip Miller, the lawyer representing King, told the Associated Press that AT&T failed to address the discrimination problem earlier. According to him, the issue was brought to the attention of its human resources department and board of directors. He emphasized that they would continue the discrimination lawsuit.
Miller said, “This is an AT&T problem, it’s not just an Aaron Slator problem,” he said.
King’s lawsuit also claimed that she was passed over for promotions because of her race, mistreated, and there were attempts to make her leave the company. According to Miller, King has been working for AT&T for 30 years. She is still an employee of the company.
Other companies facing racial discrimination allegations
Other companies such as McDonald’s is facing civil rights lawsuit after former employees at three restaurants run by a franchisee complained that they were racially discriminated and sexually harassed.
In March, a former employee of Facebook filed a lawsuit alleging that she suffered gender discrimination, racial discrimination and sexual harassment while working at the company. Chia Hong claimed that she was “belittled” during her tenure at the social network giant because of her gender and race.
