Attention Shoppers: Blacks Get Out

Wal-Mart makes a lot of announcements to its shoppers or customers. At a New Jersey store recently, an announcement came over the public-address system saying, “All black people leave the store now.” Wal-Mart officials are trying to determine from security tapes who commandeered the public-address system to create this embarrassment.

If an employee did it, then it’s a pretty easy decision to fire him, just like the joking CEO was fired recently in Nashville for sending a not-so-funny email. If it was a customer or a non-employee prankster, the matter will probably be handled by law enforcement authorities.

What should happen to the employee who was responsible for monitoring the public-address system? That’s a tougher question, but it emphasizes the importance of having controls in place to effectively deal with any type of communications device used to communicate with the public. Someone should be in charge and should take the responsibility seriously.

One more thing. This incident could be used as evidence of a hostile environment in the workplace based on race. If there is additional evidence of racial animus in the form of racial jokes, derogatory comments, and racially based employment decisions, this type of even wouldn’t only be a source of embarrassment as far as customers are concerned, it could also be the source of an employment lawsuit.