Employee suing AT&T and brass for racial discrimination
AT&T fired Aaron Slator, former president of content and ad sales, for allegedly sending a racist text message that casts African-Americans in a pejorative light.
The incident prompted a lawsuit against Slator, AT&T and other company brass; employee Knoyme King wants $100 million for allegations of race-based discrimination, harassment, intentionally inflicting emotional distress and other charges.
An AT&T representative released this brief statement: “Aaron Slator has been terminated. There is no place for demeaning behavior within AT&T and we regret the action was not taken earlier.”
The text in question, which is contained in evidentiary information filed along with the lawsuit, shows a smiling black child dancing with the caption “It’s Friday [racial epithet]s.” Slator apparently described the picture in the text as an “oldie but goodie.”
The evidence, filed with the California Superior Court, Los Angeles County, Central Division, also contains a second picture that was “found on Slator’s work phone by an African-American colleague.” That image depicts an African-American woman, clearly unaware that she’s being photographed, in an unflattering manner.
King is a 30-year AT&T employee, who started at the company in 1985 as an operator and now works as content coordinator for the company’s U-verse group.
“King has witnessed – and experienced – race and age discrimination and harassment by senior AT&T executives (all of whom are white males),” the lawsuit states. “Defendant Aaron Slator is one of King’s bosses. Slator exposed King and another African-American subordinate to the racially derogatory and discriminatory images … .”
Slator’s executive assistant, who is not named in the lawsuit, found the images when tasked by Slator with transferring data from an old phone to a newer phone, according to court documents.
