Sales low? You might get a pie to the face.
That’s what a former Comcast retail employee says would happen, according to a new lawsuit filed against the Philadelphia-headquartered company.
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David Figueroa, a former employee at a retail location in Connecticut, alleges a store manager subjected workers to hazing and assault, forcing him to quit within a month of employment. That treatment included a monthly ritual where an employee was tied to a chair and cream-pied in the face. The antics were also videotaped.
Comcast, the $125 billion-a-year media and communications giant, operates hundreds of retail stores nationwide. The stores act as point-of-sales locations for Xfinity products, including internet and TV products. They also offer equipment swaps and general customer support.
“The Company has zero tolerance for harassment, humiliation, or any behavior that compromises a respectful and safe workplace,” Comcast spokesperson John Demming said in a statement. “This matter is in litigation so we will not comment on the specific allegations, other than to say that we disagree with the claims in the complaint and its characterization of the alleged events, and intend to fully respond through the legal process.”
According to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Figueroa against Comcast, he was hired as a retail sales consultant in February at a retail location in Plainville, Conn., about 15 minutes outside of Hartford.
But Figueroa said he was quickly rattled by his direct supervisor, the store’s manager, for her treatment of the staff. That store manager is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Demming declined to comment on the manager’s current employment status, citing personnel matters.
The lawsuit says the store’s manager tracked employee sales metrics on a whiteboard in the back office that all employees could see. In the corner of that whiteboard, employees’ names were correlated to an emoji. The employee with the lowest monthly sales was listed next to an upset-looking emoji with a pie on its face, according to photos included in court documents.
“[The chart] identified the employees who either had been recently assaulted or were scheduled to be assaulted in this way,” the lawsuit says.
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On Feb. 25, Figueroa witnessed a coworker being tied to the chair and pied. The store manager “ordered, was present for, and videotaped this assault, as did the Plaintiff and other coworkers,” the lawsuit says. The coworker who struck the tied-up employee “had better sales results” and was ordered “to assault his poorer performing co-worker, in front of his peers,” the suit says.
Figueroa’s coworkers showed him a video of another pieing incident where the assistant sales manager was pied because of a poor survey score from a customer, according to the lawsuit.
He attempted to report the incident to the store’s regional manager, who instructed Figueroa to send a text message documenting his concerns. According to the lawsuit, the regional manager “never responded” to Figueroa’s complaints about the store’s “hostile and violent work environment,” leading to his resignation.
The Plainville retail location could not be reached for comment.
Figueroa “suffered a pervasive and ongoing fear of being subjected to management-condoned assaults and public humiliation in the workplace,” the lawsuit says. Now, he’s suing Comcast for damages, including past and future financial, emotional, and reputational harm caused by the incident, along with court fees.
It’s not the first time Comcast has found itself in a lawsuit involving a former employee. As reported on by The Inquirer, several past lawsuits waged by former employees have touched on hostile work environments at different Comcast stores, facilities, and call centers.
The company reported lower profits last week, citing drops in domestic residential broadband customers in the second quarter.