Gender discrimination alleged at Lexus store

A Brentwood, Tenn., dealership subjected its only female service adviser to "different terms and conditions of employment" than male co-workers and fired her because of her gender, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has charged in a federal lawsuit.

The Sept. 16 civil rights suit accuses Lexus of Cool Springs of firing Heather Peek in July 2017 for "poor attendance" after she took a sick day. The dealership replaced her with a man.

Up until then, Peek — who joined the store in 2004 — was a top producer among service advisers for most months she worked there, the suit says. Peek's problems began in April 2017 when a new male service director wouldn't talk to her, hired two male service advisers and gave them unearned vacation time. The store's only other female service adviser quit shortly thereafter.

Dealership lawyer Chris Anderson, of Nashville, says the store will "vigorously defend" the case and "is committed to holding ourselves to the highest of standards when it comes to treating our team members fairly and equally." The suit is "groundless" and "wrong on both the facts and the law," he says.

A suburban Chicago dealership violated federal labor law by unilaterally implementing changes in technicians' wages and health care benefits without negotiating with their union, a National Labor Relations Board panel ruled Nov. 3.

The case involved what is now Zeigler Buick-GMC of Lincolnwood and Zeigler Cadillac of Lincolnwood, which Zeigler Automotive Group acquired from Grossinger Auto Group in 2018. At the time, the machinists' union represented techs under a collective bargaining agreement.

A few months later, the store eliminated its base-pay guarantee for techs and replaced their health insurance with a "vastly more expensive" policy, the panel said. It said the store also told techs "we're no longer a union shop" and wrongfully signed contracts with several individual employees.

Two techs resigned, saying they were effectively discharged because they confronted the Hobson's choice of keeping their jobs or abandoning their right to unionize. An administrative law judge agreed, as did the NLRB panel.

Dealership lawyer James Hendricks Jr., of Chicago, said the two were offered reinstatement but chose not to return. He said management and the union have negotiated contracts, adding, "We've met our bargaining obligation."