According to a recent lawsuit, Target distributed a list of “multi-cultural tips” to its managers reminding them to stop making false ethnic assumptions about Hispanics.
The list was intended to help bosses manage Hispanic employees, but it has been described by the plaintiffs as racist itself. Read the “multi-cultural tips”:
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.”
The three plaintiffs are suing Target for harassment and discrimination, and are using the list as an example of what they describe as a wider problem.
They claim they were fired due to racial and age bias. They also say Target’s managers, nearly all of whom were white, used racial slurs while talking to their Hispanic employees, saying such things as “Only a wetback can work this hard,” and “You got to be Mexican to work like this.”
“This document, which was used during conversations at one distribution center, was never part of any formal or company-wide training,” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in a statement. “We take accountability for its contents and are truly sorry.”