Fixed Ops Journal - June 2018 - F8

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

LEGAL LANE
Suit says store tolerated
harassment by service writer
A federal court lawsuit accuses a Texas dealership of sexual harassment and maintaining
a hostile work environment based on a former
employee's allegations of unwanted sexual
comments and physical contact by a frontline service adviser.
Stacie Lloyd, a former express-service adviser at Gullo Toyota of Conroe in suburban
Houston, claims that after she unsuccessfully
complained to the service manager, the dealership retaliated by transferring her to a lower-paid position.
Lloyd had been earning $36,000 a year with
the opportunity for $500 monthly bonuses
based on customer service surveys. Her transfer to the dealership's business development
center meant a loss in pay from $750 a week to
$15 an hour, and no monthly bonus opportunities, the suit says.
Nor did the new job eliminate the need for
her to have contact with the alleged harasser,
according to the suit. Lloyd resigned, realizing
"that the harassment would not end and that
she would have to endure the humiliation and
the assaults if she wanted to keep her job," the
suit says.
She "was constructively discharged by the
[dealership's] failure to correct or prevent the
harassment," the suit adds.
It alleges the service manager told Lloyd
that she couldn't act against the alleged harasser because "when you make the company
$320,000 in one month, you can do what you
want to do."
Tony Gullo Jr., the dealership's general manager, said he couldn't comment on pending
litigation.

Importer says feds
illegally seize repair grilles
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is illegally seizing repair grilles, aftermarket parts
importer LKQ Corp. charges in a lawsuit
against the Department of Homeland Security
The federal suit, filed in Delaware, alleges
that a "grille monopoly campaign" by the customs agency and automakers has led to more
than 165 unlawful seizures of repair grilles at
the ports of Savannah, Ga.; Long Beach, Calif.;
and International Falls, Minn., since April,
2017.
LKQ disputes the agency's assertion that the
grilles are counterfeit or violate trademarks of

PAGE 8

JUNE 2018

ployees who worked for the group between
July 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2017. The lawsuit accused the company of not paying minimum
and overtime wages to the affected workers,
and not providing the off-duty meal and rest
periods that California law requires.
The suit also alleged that Penske wrongfully
required the employees to report to their jobs
without getting at least half of their scheduled
day's work, failed to reimburse them for required expenses and did not provide accurate
itemized wage statements.

Dealership ordered to pay
for defective bearing repair

Ford, Fiat Chrysler, BMW, Honda, Hyundai,
Toyota and Mazda. It argues that "prohibiting
aftermarket suppliers from providing replacement grilles that replicate the design of the
corresponding vehicle's original grille would
eliminate all competitors from the aftermarket repair parts market."
The company says Ford and FCA have licensed LKQ to manufacture, import and sell
replacement parts, including some of the
seized grilles.
The suit seeks damages, a ruling that the federal agency's seizure and "impending forfeiture" of
the repair grilles is unconstitutional, and an injunction against further illegal seizures.
A Department of Homeland Security
spokeswoman said the department's policy is
not to comment on pending litigation.

Parts workers share
in settlement of Penske suit

Parts counter workers and service advisers
are among an estimated 1,750 employees of
Penske Automotive Group dealerships in California who will share $2.1 million from a
court-approved settlement of a wage-andhour class-action lawsuit.
The beneficiaries of the settlement will receive an average of $1,205 each. The presiding
judge in the case scheduled a July 6 hearing
on final approval of the settlement.
Penske is the nation's second largest
new-vehicle retailer. Its website lists 30 newand used-vehicle dealerships in California.
The company, based in suburban Detroit, did
not respond to a request for comment.
The settlement covers commissioned em-

The Civil Resolution Tribunal in British Columbia ruled that the buyer of a used 2009
Toyota RAV4 is entitled to reimbursement by a
dealership for replacement of a defective
wheel bearing.
Shelly Lopez, the vice chairman of the tribunal, ordered Maple Ridge Volkswagen to pay
Richard Jerome $635 for repairs done by an
independent shop. The dealership hadn't disclosed the defective right front wheel bearing
and "instead wrongly stated on the inspection
report that it was in satisfactory condition,"
she said.
"The inspection report included 'satisfactory' check marks for both left and right bearings," and the inspection comments cited only
an oil change, rear brakes, a rock chip and an
air filter, Lopez wrote in her decision. The vehicle came with an implied warranty because
the dealership's mechanic had inspected it as
part of the sales transaction, she said.
The day after Jerome bought the RAV4, he
took it to an independent shop with a noise
complaint. The shop discovered that "the
wheel bearing was worn and its condition was
a potential safety issue that required immediate repair," potentially causing the wheel to
seize and the driver to lose control, Lopez said.
The dealership refused to fix the problem
and offered to buy back the RAV4, but only for
store credit. In light of the safety issue, Lopez
said Jerome acted reasonably in having the independent shop make the repair, even if the
dealership could have done the work less expensively.
Lorne Ross, Maple Ridge Volkswagen's general manager, said the dealership "settled and
paid the amount."
---- Eric Freedman
foj@autonews.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - June 2018