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Dearborn Man Alleges Bias in Wal-Mart Suit
A Dearborn man has sued Wal-Mart for $12 million, claiming the merchandising giant fired him because he complained about discriminatory harassment he suffered on the job at the hands of fellow employees and supervisors.
The lawsuit filed today in Wayne County Circuit Court by Louay N. Kezy, 42, alleges the company allowed anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias and taunting at the Dearborn Wal-Mart. Kezy worked in the stock department from the time the store opened last March until Aug. 14, when he was fired after filing a written complaint with managers.
“It is absurd that his supervisors think they can take this action against an Arab American without consequences right in the middle of the largest Arab community outside of the Middle East,” said Kezy’s lawyer, Nabih Ayad. “That Wal-Mart can take their money as consumers but allow an Arab employee to be abused is absurd.”
“Respect for the individual is a core value of our company here at Wal-Mart,” said Michelle Bradford, a corporate spokeswoman in Bentonville, Ark. “In this case, the individual was terminated for legitimate reasons. Beyond that, we don’t discuss personnel maters.”
The case has been assigned to Judge Robert Colombo Jr. No dates have been set for hearings.
“He was in living hell going to work every day, and Wal-Mart did absolutely nothing to stop it,” Ayad said.
Kezy was born in Iraq but is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He immigrated 28 years ago and speaks fluent English, said his lawyer. He doesn’t wear traditional Arab clothing or headwear, but his physical appearance clearly identifies his ethnicity, said Ayad.
“They demeaned him, harassed him, called him names. They accused him of being a terrorist,” Ayad said.” Supervisors ordered him to do jobs that were unrelated to his duties. They allowed a joke, a game to continue where co-workers would toss a ball near him and pretend it was a grenade, a bomb.
“Wal-Mart allowed this hostile environment to continue and they fired him when he complained,” Ayad said.
Kezy’s income from the Wal-Mart job supported his wife and children. He has been unemployed since his firing, his lawyer said.
Dawud Walid, executive director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations, said: “Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not as rare as the general public might think. There is quite a bit of discrimination against Arabs and Muslims in Dearborn, even though there is a large population there.”
Doug Guthrie
The Detroit News