ELECTRONICS RETAILER 'VIDEO ONLY' TO PAY $630,000 FOR HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION

After Judge Finds Company Liable and Dismisses Defense, Video Only Settles EEOC Suit

PORTLAND, Ore. – Home electronics retailer Video Only will  pay $630,000 and implement preventative measures to settle two  discrimination lawsuits, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission  (EEOC) announced today. Judge Garr M.  King of the U.S. District Court in Portland  signed the Consent Decree approving the settlement.

According to the EEOC's suit (Civil  Case No. 06-1362-KI in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon), two employees of Video Only’s Jantzen Beach  store in Portland -- Michael Gonzales, a Hispanic, and Jayson Lewis, an African American whose fiancée and two young children are Jewish  -- faced repeated slurs and jokes about their race, national origin, and  religion. The abuse included use of the “N–word” by management;  the telling of racially offensive “jokes”; use of the epithet “beaner”; and a doll  with its hair and face painted black that was hog-tied and hung by a nail in  the break room.

The EEOC also alleged that the  company retaliated against Gonzales and Lewis after they reported the harass­ment  by, among other things, hiring a private investigator to gather information in  an effort to discredit their harassment claims. Company officials also confronted co-workers who supported the complain­ants by telling them  they were hurting the company and trying to get them to quit, the EEOC  charged.

The EEOC and the employees took the  unusual step of filing pretrial papers seeking a ruling against the company  and, on June 11, 2008, Judge King ruled that Video Only had indeed unlawfully retaliated  against Lewis and Gonzales. In finding  for the EEOC and the discrimina­tion victims, the court said the company had  called for a private investigation because of Gonzales’s and Lewis’s

complaints and “for no other reason.” The court also knocked down a cornerstone of  Video Only’s defense, finding as a matter of law that Video Only failed to  exercise reasonable care to promptly correct the harassment.

All this alleged conduct violates Title  VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Gonzales and Lewis will be awarded  $500,000 of the total $630,000 settlement.  The remaining $130,000 resolved a related suit to which EEOC was not a  party. The related suit alleged  retaliation against Travis Herron and  Dave Guralnick, two other Jantzen  Beach employees who spoke  out on behalf of Gonzales and Lewis.

In addition to the monetary  settlement, Video Only agreed to implement anti-discrimin­ation policies and  procedures in its work force. The  company will provide anti-discrimination training to all management and  non-management employees in Oregon  and at its headquarters store in Seattle-Southcenter. The company will also provide periodic  reports to EEOC on its compliance with the terms of the consent decree. The Oregon  court will have jurisdiction to enforce the EEOC’s settlement for the next  three years.

“Our  investigation discovered harassment that engaged in the worst stereotypes and  slurs about Blacks, Latinos and Jews, and that upper management actively  participated in this behavior,” said EEOC  Acting District Director Mike Baldonado.  “This is a major victory for Mr. Gonzales and Mr. Lewis, the  employees who testified on their behalf and future employees at Video  Only. The settlement should send a  strong message that harassment based on race, national origin and religion has  no place in the workplace, and that those who speak out against discrimination  are protected by law from retaliation.”

EEOC Regional Attorney William Tamayo added, “The  kind of heavy-handed intimi­dation Video Only employed led us to seek a  pre-trial ruling. The court’s June 11 finding  affirms EEOC’s position that retaliation designed to frighten employees  from reporting or testifying about discrimination violates the law. These  employees should be recognized for their courage in stepping forward,”

Video Only, Inc. sells home entertainment  video and audio equipment. The  corporation has 18 stores located in Washington,  California, and Oregon  and has its headquarters in Seattle.

On Feb. 28, 2007, EEOC Chair Naomi  C. Earp launched the Commission's E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism And  Colorism from Employment), a national outreach, education, and enforcement  campaign focusing on new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century  workplace. Further information about the  E-RACE Initiative is available on the EEOC’s web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html.

The EEOC enforces federal  laws prohibiting discrimination in employment. Further information about the  Commission is available on its web site at www.eeoc.gov.