Employees of a BMW dealership were subjected to constant slurs, attorneys for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission argued before the jury in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
“This case is about bullying,” EEOC attorney Richard Iven Sexton said in opening arguments. “This is bullying somebody because of where they come from.”
The victims in the case, Joachim Bannes and Zbigniew Orlinski, say co-workers at BMW of Tucson repeatedly verbally assaulted them with terms like “Polack,” “Nazi” and “Jew killer.” Orlinski is an immigrant from Poland, and Bannes from Germany. Both men were mechanics at the dealership. Sexton said the men complained about the name-calling to their co-workers, and later to supervisors when the slurs continued.
But rather than discipline the offending employees, Sexton said company officials retaliated against Bannes and Orlinski.
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Court papers filed in the case say company officials forced Orlinski to move his workstation outside in the elements, and Bannes was denied training opportunities. Both men were later fired.
“These men came looking for the American dream, and all they did was get bullied because of where they are from,” Sexton said.
Attorneys representing AN Luxury Imports of Tucson and Autonation USA Corporation, owners of BMW of Tucson, argued the two were fired for shoddy workmanship and dishonesty.
“These terminations were justified because one walked off the job, and the other falsified a customer repair,” attorney Carrie Marie Francis told jurors.
Francis said supervisors at BMW of Tucson repeatedly warned Orlinski of his messy workstation. He also twice inadvertently sprayed customer cars with fuel injector fluid, causing enough damage to require repainting. She said Orlinski’s supervisor then decided to document the issues. Orlinski was fired when he was later found to have incorrectly filled out paperwork, as well as having clocked out early without permission on at least one occasion.
Sexton said Orlinski only clocked out early because of a discrepancy with the clocks in the computer system. As for Bannes, Francis said he was found to have made inadequate repairs to the electric lines on the braking system of a customer’s car. In that instance, Bannes said he used tape to seal an area of apparent friction on the line when he couldn’t find anything wrong with the car.
Sexton said it was an example of Bannes actually going above and beyond what was required, but Francis disagreed.
“That’s not a proper BMW repair,” she said, adding that Bannes had written a repair order on the car for work that wasn’t done.
Francis did not discuss the allegations of racial slurs leveled against the plaintiffs during opening statements.
In testimony, Orlinski described how he emigrated from Poland in 1984 as a political refugee. Now a U.S. citizen and retired, he said he has been a certified auto mechanic since 1979, having earned certifications in his native country.
In this country, Orlinski worked as a mechanic for dealerships in New York, Connecticut and Arizona. He also earned National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence master technician status.
He described how co-workers almost immediately began insulting him when he started work at the BMW dealership, saying he was routinely called a “dumb Polack.”
When he brought the issue up to his superiors, they were dismissive, he said.
Orlinski testified that his bosses said, “‘That’s how these people talk; what are you gonna do,’” in response.
The incidents occurred between 2007 and 2009. The civil complaint was filed in 2011, accusing BMW of Tucson of discrimination based on national origin, a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The trial continues Tuesday in U.S. District Court.
