Discrimination Suit Against Panasonic Heats Up

March 27, 2014

MARCH 25, 2014

BY HUGH R. MORLEY

STAFF WRITER

THE RECORD

Records of any employee complaints of discrimination and retaliation going back 24 years are the focus of a vigorous battle in the suit filed by three female African-American executives at Panasonic Corp. of America who claim they were passed over for promotions due to discrimination.

As the legal tussle plays out, the New Jersey branch of the National Action Network, the Harlem-based civil rights organization founded and led by Rev. Al Sharpton, has taken up the women’s cause – launching a letter-writing campaign last week that seeks to persuade corporations that use Panasonic products to think twice about their relationship with the electronics giant in light of the suit’s allegations.

The three executives – Glorina Williams Cruz, 48, the company’s director of compensation and motivation; Sandra Karriem, 55, assistant general counsel; and Marilyn “Penny” Joseph, 59, vice president of community relations and corporate outreach – filed their suit in Superior Court in Newark a year ago. All three remain employed by the company.
The suit claims that Panasonic, of Newark, “engaged in a continuing pattern and practice of disparate treatment, discrimination and retaliation against [non-Asian] minority and female employees.” The women, who together have put in more than six decades with the company, claim that for years they have been the victims of discrimination that has stunted their careers and depressed their earning ability.

Panasonic denies the allegations.

“Panasonic Corporation of North America values its employees and is deeply committed to treating each and every person fairly and with respect,” spokesman Jim Reilly said. “We take allegations of discrimination very seriously and have well established policies and procedures in place to promote fair and equitable treatment. We fully deny the plaintiffs’ allegations and have launched a vigorous legal defense against these claims.”

Nancy Erika Smith, a Montclair attorney for the three women, says her clients are seeking any employee complaints about discrimination and retaliation going back 24 years – to the year when the longest tenured of the women, Joseph, was hired – saying they could yield evidence how the company handled such cases and whether there was a pattern of past complaints.
Panasonic argued in court papers that the request for documents is “overly broad” and would “lead the parties into a discovery morass in which [Panasonic] will be forced to produce potentially limitless, irrelevant information.”
The court has dismissed Panasonic’s arguments, and the company has filed an appeal with the state appellate division, said Smith, who on Monday filed papers seeking to have the appeal dismissed.

Meanwhile, the National Action Network says it started sending out letters Friday seeking to raise the issue with corporate users of Panasonic goods. So far, the letter has gone to about 20 companies, including Walmart, Best Buy and Audi, said Rev. Steffie Bartley Sr., president of the Elizabeth-based New Jersey chapter of National Action Network.
The letter recounts the women’s allegations, and says it is “asking all companies that care about equal opportunity and social justice to consider the facts of this case when making decisions about with whom to do business.”

Email: morley@northjersey.com
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