BEAUMONT – Sonic Automotive, Inc. has been implicated in a former employee’s federal lawsuit alleging the North Carolina-based retailer terminated the plaintiff because he is Hispanic.
Pedro Mendoza filed the suit on Mar. 26 in the Beaumont Division of the Eastern District of Texas. He claims that he was subjected to a hostile work environment when the defendant employed him as a salesman at its Nederland location.
“These unlawful acts took place at the office, in the field, and at company functions,” the original petition says.
Mendoza recalls the business’s general manager, Darren Granger, telling him to speak English while he was on a personal phone call with his daughters. Granger also reportedly deprived the complainant of advancement opportunities.
Court documents add that finance manager Charlie Roland mistreated Mendoza and his customers, who were mostly Hispanics. The plaintiff reported the purported acts of discrimination to his supervisor to no avail as he was fired on July 17, 2018, the complaint says.
Mendoza seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
He is represented by the law firm Roebuck Thomas & Adams, PLLC in Beaumont.
Beaumont Division of the Eastern District of Texas Case No. 1:19-CV-0151