Dominicans are being shafted by their Puerto Rican bosses at Cablevision, a discrimination lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court yesterday charges.
Marino Javier, a black Dominican sales representative at Cablevision’s Bronx office, said he was fired after complaining about mistreatment by his bosses who are Puerto Rican.
He said Dominican women also have been fired after complaining of bias.
“Managers and co-workers alike have been heard to utter racist epithets and derogatory racist comments regarding Dominicans and blacks,” Javier alleges in court papers.
The suit charges that Cablevision and two Puerto Rican managers in particular “target Dominicans, especially black Dominicans, and deny them promotions.”
Javier said he received good job ratings when he started in 1999, but he ran into problems after complaining to the personnel department about discrimination and racial slurs made by supervisors about a South Asian man as well as Dominicans.
“Mr. Javier was never terminated until he complained of discrimination, but instead received numerous accolades regarding his work, and he was not treated as other Caucasians were, including Caucasian Hispanics of Puerto Rican descent,” the suit charges.
Cablevision officials in The Bronx could not be reached for comment.