12 Nov 21st-Nov 27th, 2024 phoenixnewtimes.com PHOENIX NEW TIMES | NEWS | FEATURE | FOOD & DRINK | ARTS & CULTURE | MUSIC | CONCERTS | CANNABIS | Racial Retaliation Ex-Chas Roberts worker says boss used N-word, cut pay, fired him. BY NOAH CULLEN F or years, Brandon Robinson was one of the top salespeople at Chas Roberts Air Conditioning and Heating, the Arizona staple that bills itself as the largest plumbing and HVAC provider in the state. Despite that, he says, the company subjected him to second-class treatment because he is Black — lowering his pay structure, using the N-word and retaliating against him after he took medical leave and filed a workplace complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Last month, almost exactly a year after he says Chas Roberts fired him, Robinson filed a civil rights lawsuit against the company in federal court. He is being represented by Phoenix attorney Jeffrey Silence as well as out-of-state lawyers Jonathan Marko and Nichole Omilion, who both work for a civil rights firm based in Michigan. “The Constitution has long provided citizens of America with civil rights. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice every- where,’” the attorneys said in a joint state- ment to Phoenix New Times. “We look forward to getting our client the justice he deserves.” According to the lawsuit, the 48-year- old Robinson started in 2015 as a sales consultant associate at the company, which “maintained a predominantly Caucasian workforce.” Despite being one of the company’s most successful employees, he claims, his bosses subjected him to racist language and ensured that Robinson’s bonus structure goalposts conveniently evaded him. Robinson’s lawsuit says that a year into his employment, Robinson’s white sales manager, Noah Senter, sent Robinson a text using the word “n—a.” According to his attorneys’ statement, though not included in the lawsuit, Senter followed up with “Lol my bad that was for a group text I was in.” The lawsuit says that one of Robinson’s coworkers told him that Senter “regularly uses the racial slur.” Moving goalposts Despite this, Robinson’s suit says he continued to be a top sales associate. In 2017, he was the only associate to bring in $2 million in revenue, which earned him a 1% bonus. A year later, however, Robinson says the bonus structure changed, requiring him to bring in an additional $500,000 in revenue to earn the same bonus. The suit claims that now-former Chas Roberts executive Damon Bromagem — whose surname is misspelled in the filing — “changed the structure because he did not want to pay” Robinson. When Robinson complained to the company’s human resources department that he was being treated differently than his white coworkers, he says he was told to “work it out himself” with Senter and Bromagem. In addition, the suit claims, the company retaliated against Robinson for taking leave under the Family Medical Leave Act, which protects employees from being dismissed when taking unpaid absences for medical conditions or the birth of a child. Robinson was approved for FMLA leave in May 2023, when, according to the suit, he was hospitalized for “serious mental conditions including depression, anxiety, stress, and suicidal ideations.” Robinson says that when he returned to work that September, the company cut his pay and reduced the percentages in his commission structure. Per the suit, Senter and his brother Mike — who assumed Bromagem’s role in 2021 — claimed the pay cut was because Robinson’s work truck was a “disaster.” Robinson says he noted that he hadn’t driven the truck in months due to his medical leave and later took photos of it “in pristine condition.” Robinson refused to sign the new commission structure a week later, after which the Senters told him that refusal would be considered a voluntary resigna- tion from the company. Robinson disagreed and told them that if he lost his job, it would be because they fired him. Robinson filed a complaint with the EEOC on Oct. 2, 2023. The same day, his lawsuit says, Chas Roberts “terminated” him. ‘A valued employee’ Chas Roberts disputes Robinson’s charac- terization of his departure. “Brandon Robinson was a valued employee, and we were disappointed by his decision to leave the company in October 2023,” Chief Financial Officer Ally Sloan said in a statement to New Times. Sloan also claimed the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor found Robinson’s accusations to be baseless, and that the company is moving to have the case dismissed. No such motion has been filed so far. “Both organizations reviewed the matter and have since closed their investi- gations without finding any wrongdoing by Chas Roberts,” Sloan said. “We take all allegations of discrimination very seri- ously. After conducting a thorough internal investigation, we found no evidence to support claims of racial discrimination.” But one of Robinson’s lawyers said it’s false that the EEOC shot down his complaint. According to Omilion, the agency issued a Right to Sue letter, which is required before filing a civil rights suit in federal court. The EEOC denied a request from New Times for Robinson’s complaint, and his attorneys did not respond to a request for the Right to Sue letter. Robinson’s suit seeks both punitive and compensatory damages. Chas Roberts has yet to file an answer in court. In his lawsuit, Brandon Robinson says he was the only Chas Roberts salesperson to bring in $2 million in business in 2017. (Courtesy of Brandon Robinson) | NEWS | | NEWS |
