Former car salesman sues Johnson County dealership, says colleagues called him the N-word
A Johnson County man is suing his former employer, a car dealership, claiming that he was retaliated against for reporting racial slurs used by his manager and colleagues.
Jude Boliere, of Olathe, filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Johnson County District Court against Robert Brogden’s Olathe Buick-GM, on East Sante Fe Street.
Boliere, a 60-year-old Black man, alleges that in his eight months at the dealership, he faced discrimination because of his race and age and retaliation for reporting it.
Despite racial slurs being “thrown around so liberally” at his workplace, he said, the dealership did nothing to address the harassment.
Boliere was hired on as a manager at the dealership in September 2020, according to court records. Several weeks into the job, a new and younger manager was hired at a higher salary.
About two weeks later, Boliere was demoted to salesman after he was told that the company couldn’t afford his manager salary of about $5,000 a month, according to the lawsuit. Right after the demotion, the company hired another manager who was younger and white.
Meanwhile, Boliere began working as a salesman in both the new and used car sections of the dealership. He said he was given little training and wasn’t taught how to use the dealership’s software.
At one point, during a disagreement with another salesperson over a sale, Boliere said his colleague used racial slurs and profanities against him. He said it was one of multiple incidents were he was called racial slurs during his time there.
Meanwhile, between November 2020 and April 2021, several young white managers were hired on, according to the suit.
“Mr. Boliere’s sales efforts were sabotaged by the dealership in favor of other employees who were younger and not African American,” the lawsuit reads.
In December 2020, Boliere filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission claiming he was subjected to racial and hostile working conditions. He told management that he filed the report.
The following month, the general manager called Boliere the N-word during a meeting with two other employees, the lawsuit alleges.
Boliere said he reported the slur, but to his knowledge, no action was taken.
In February 2021, Boliere asked to be transferred to another dealership owned by the company. He was denied.
In May 2021, Boliere was fired “after another salesman confronted him regarding the sale of a vehicle,” according to court records.
Boliere in court filings said he believes the managers conspired with salespeople to make false allegations against him to get him fired or to quit.
“Mr. Boliere had high hopes for his new job with defendant only to have his stream of income shut off when defendant unlawfully terminated Mr. Boliere which resulted in substantial hardship,” the lawsuit reads.
He filed another complaint with the EEOC in August 2021. In March, they sent him a notice of right to sue.
The dealership declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday morning. No lawyer was yet listed in court records for the company.
Boliere is requesting a jury trial and compensation for lost wages as a result of the alleged discrimination and retaliation. His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday morning.
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 9:37 AM.
