Target’s racist manager guide referencing Mexicans and sombreros is causing Target to be sued by three former Hispanic employees.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , racism became a hot topic during the Paula Deen lawsuit and the George Zimmerman trial .
Target Sombrero Memo Racist?
Walmart’s management policies and labor practices may have receiving most of the unwanted press over the years but the racist Target sombrero and Mexican bashing manager guide probably wins the booby prize. A Target warehouse in Yolo County, California came under fire when a memo to managers became public.
The Target sombrero memo read like this according to the three former Target employees:
Target provided its distribution warehouse managers a document titled, ‘Organization Effectiveness, Employee and Labor Relations Multi-Cultural Tips.’ This document instructs managers to note differences among Hispanic employees, and states the following:
a. Food: not everyone eats tacos and burritos;
b. Music: not everyone dances to salsa;
c. Dress: not everyone wears a sombrero;
d. Mexicans (lower education level, some may be undocumented);
e. Cubans (Political refugees, legal status, higher education level); and
f. They may say ‘OK, OK’ and pretend to understand, when they do not, just to save face.
Although the three Hispanic Target employees were eventually fired, they are seeking punitive damages for harassment, failure to prevent harassment, age and race discrimination, and retaliation. The lawsuit against Target alleges that the managers referred to Hispanic employees with racial slurs.
Target has responded to the controversy by apologizing and saying the contents of the document do not reflect Target at large. They say the “document, which was used during conversations at one distribution center, was never part of any formal or company-wide training. We take accountability for its contents and are truly sorry.”
Do you think the Target sombrero memo is racist?