Former Sears Employee Awarded $5.2M In Race Suit

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A jury in California has awarded $5.2 million in damages to a Sears Home Improvement Products employee who sued for racial harassment and retaliation.

Medro Johnson, 49, of Elk Grove, sued after being referred to as a slave in front of his family, among other incidents, The Sacramento Bee reported.

While Johnson was at a company picnic in 2008 with his wife, son and daughter, a co-worker said, "Medro calls me Masta," in what court records referred to as a "slave dialect."

In another incident, the same employee threatened Johnson with violence, court documents stated.

Johnson claimed that he complained to supervisors but no action was taken.

The Sacramento Superior Court jury on Friday found that Sears' policymakers and managers failed to investigate or act on Johnson's complaints. Instead, managers told Johnson that both he and the other employee would be terminated if the complaint was taken to human resources, according to court documents.

"That was a threat designed to intimidate him and shut him up," Christopher Whelan, Johnson's attorney, told the Bee.

Whelan said the company ignored the offending comments because the employee was one of their top salesmen in the country.

A Sears spokesman said the company is disappointed in the verdict and is exploring an appeal and other options.

Johnson said he was pleased with the jury's verdict, especially since he had been struggling financially since being fired from his job at Sears, which is part of Sears Holdings Corp., based in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

"I feel like justice was served, and I would hope that the award will send a message to Sears and that they will change their behavior so no one has to suffer like I had to suffer over these years," he said.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)