Sacramento employee files class action discrimination suit against Jos. A. Bank

A Sacramento attorney has filed a class action against one of the nation’s leading retailers of upscale men’s clothing, alleging racial discrimination against thousands of black employees in more than 140 stores throughout the western United States.

Anthony Perez filed the complaint against Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. on Thursday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The lead plaintiff is Casey Stewart, a black man who was allegedly terminated from the company’s store on Arden Way in October after he filed discrimination complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment. Stewart alleges he was treated differently from white employees, denied promotions and pay increases, had his hours cut and was harassed at work.

Corporate officials were not immediately available.

The lawsuit alleges the problem goes far beyond a single employee to many others like him.

The national retailer “systematically takes adverse employment actions against qualified, high-performing African-American employees in management positions by giving them less-desirable job assignments, lower pay, fewer promotional opportunities, more frequent and harsher discipline and retaliating for complaining about said illegal conduct,” court documents allege.

The lawsuit seeks class status, an injunction against this kind of behavior, development of a policy that provides equal employment opportunities for all African-Americans.

It also seeks a court order to restore the plaintiff and other members of the class to their “rightful positions” — or pay benefits if reinstatement is not possible — along with back pay and damages, punitive damages and court costs.

The complaint states, “There was a policy in the Western region of the United States to prohibit qualified African-Americans from obtaining management positions with Jos. A. Bank,” Perez said. “Not only was that the policy and practice, but Mr. Stewart was fired as a result of filing complaints with the EEOC and DFEH.”

Stewart has a bachelor’s degree in marketing and previously worked as an assistant manager at Target for 10 years, Perez said. He also served in the special forces of the U.S. Army.

“It’s terrible that someone who served the armed forces in a special forces unit has to experience the kind of race discrimination that Mr. Stewart has gone through,” Perez said.

The retailer, which is based in Hampstead, Md., operates about 470 stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C. In addition to the Arden Fair store, Jos. A. Bank (Nasdaq: JOSB) operates a store at The Fountains at Roseville.