Fixed Ops Journal - October 2020 - F16

FIXED OPS JOURNAL

LEGAL LANE
Virginia store fights racial discrimination lawsuit
A Virginia Honda dealership is fighting a former service adviser's racial
discrimination suit accusing the store of firing him in retaliation for his complaint about Confederate material on a service technician's tool cabinet.
The material cited by James Bland Jr., who is Black, included a Confederate
flag and a tourism brochure with a photo of Gen. Robert E. Lee in uniform.
The tool cabinet was in a "very conspicuous place in the service garage,"
where Bland said he saw it many times a day, according to the suit against
Williamsburg Honda. It asserts that the imagery created a hostile work environment and that the store failed to have the technician remove it.
The dealership hired Bland in July 2018 and fired him a year later, "giving
no reason aside from stating 'things aren't working out,' " the suit claims.
Williamsburg Honda denied any discrimination, saying in its Sept. 17
court filing that the flag decal was small and outside Bland's view and that
he didn't claim it was offensive or ask for its removal. The store argued that
it justifiably fired him for violating company policy, failing to meet performance expectations, giving unauthorized discounts and other misconduct.

Customers overcharged, given cheap parts, suit says
Customers of a collision center run by a luxury dealership group in
New York systematically overpaid for labor costs and failed to receive
the value of parts authorized by their insurers, according to a suit in
Nassau County Supreme Court.
The deceptive business practices and breach-of-warranty suit, filed

Aug. 10, seeks class-action status and alleges that Rallye Collision
Center, in Carle Place, made improper payments to insurance adjusters "to falsify and/or modify estimates without advising customers of
these deceptive procedures."
The collision center is part of Rallye Motor Co., which has Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Lexus and Acura franchises. It declined to comment on the case.
The suit details experiences of 18 customers. It says all had received receipts that sharply reduced the cost of parts and increased labor costs by
as much as five times over the estimates. "Despite the significant differences between the estimate and invoice, inexplicably the total cost of
repair remained constant," the lawsuit said of each job.
The shop declined to comment.

Manager alleges retaliation for COVID leave request
A North Carolina dealership's former parts and service manager has
accused the store of wrongfully retaliating when she requested Families First Coronavirus Response Act leave to care for her son when his
school closed because of COVID-19. The federal suit filed July 23 by
Dena Gates claims Lejeune Honda Cars, in Jacksonville, also required
her to work while she was on leave and failed to pay her for it.
In May, the store removed Gates from the management position she'd
held since March 2018, citing poor performance, and offered her a lower-paying service writer position, the suit claims. She rejected the offer.
The suit quotes the store's general manager as saying, "Anyone who
takes off during the pandemic will not have a job when they return."
Gates is seeking damages and reinstatement. Lejeune Honda Cars'
lawyer did not return requests from Fixed Ops Journal for comment.

Ohio dealership accuses Nissan of 'money grab'

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PAGE 16

OCTOBER 2020

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An Ohio dealership is fighting a $54,310 chargeback after a Nissan
North America warranty service claim audit, contending the manufacturer's demand conflicts with state dealer law.
According to the suit filed Sept. 11 in state court, Nissan initially proposed a $76,665 chargeback to I-90 Nissan in Sheffield, alleging problems
such as illegible or altered submissions and failure to follow repair procedure for one-off parts. The audit period was Jan. 20, 2019, to Jan. 6, 2020.
Nissan, which has not commented on the suit, reduced its demand
to $54,310 after the store's internal appeal.
I-90 disputes all but $2,991 of the chargeback and accuses Nissan of
a "money grab," breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and violation of the Ohio Dealer Act. In particular, it said Nissan didn't disapprove any of the service claims within the law's 30-day limit or accuse
the store of false or fraudulent claims.
"I-90 has properly complied with any and all reasonable and material terms" in its sales and service agreement, "including the warranty
service repairs and claims processing for new Nissan North America
new motor vehicle customers," the suit says. "A franchisor may not deny a claim based solely on a dealer's incidental failure to comply with
a specific claim processing requirement, such as a clerical error, that
does not put into question the legitimacy of the claim."
Dealership lawyer Christopher DeVito, of Cleveland, said: "All of the
warranty repair work was properly performed for the Nissan retail
customers. There has not been any allegation by NNA of misrepresentation, fraud or that the work was not performed properly."
- Eric Freedman
foj@autonews.com

http://www.rscsales.com

Fixed Ops Journal - October 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fixed Ops Journal - October 2020