A Black man says he was a victim racial discrimination and retaliation by his employers.
Antonio Bell filed his complaint April 9 in St. Louis Circuit Court against Lou Fusz Automotive Network Inc. and VIP Distributing Company. Fusz operates car dealerships throughout the Midwest, and VIP is a supplier of automotive repair services and auto parts to and from car dealerships and other manufacturers.
According to the complaint, “the interrelationship between VIP and Lou Fusz is so closely intertwined the two companies should be considered a single employer of plaintiff.”
Bell began working for the defendants as a truck driver in December 2021. In November 2022, he was promoted to dispatcher.
Before 2023, Bell says VIP managers who were mostly white worked in the front of the building while the drivers and those performing manual labor, who he says largely were persons of color, worked in the back of the building.
“As a result, employees at the office commonly referred to the office as ‘Rosa Parks’ due to this segregation,” the complaint states. “While employees regularly used racially derogatory language toward Black employees, including using the ‘N-word.’
“Black employees complained about the racially derogatory language to defendants. Nevertheless, defendants failed to take prompt and effective remedial action regarding the complaints.”
In 2023, Bell was promoted to logistics manager and made him the only Black manager and only Black employee to work in the front of the VIP building. He reported directly to Operations Manager Aaron Payne and to General Manager Jim Bushart, both of whom are white.
Bell says the defendants paid him less for his duties than white managers who performed the same work as him. And he says white employees also used racially derogatory language toward him in the presence of Bushart, who he says failed to take prompt and effective action to stop it.
He says Bushart also made such comments toward him, such as calling him a “minority hire” and saying Bell was not an “Uncle Tom.”
In 2023, Bell says he asked a white driver under his supervision why he took a two-hour stop at a gas station when he was scheduled to be driving. The driver responded that no “N-word” was going to tell him what to do, and he also called Bell a “N-word bitch.” Bell says Bushart was present at the time, and grabbed Bell by his arm that he had injured previously in a workplace accident and caused more injury and significant pain. He had to go to the emergency room for treatment.
“When he returned to the office, he discovered that the driver left flowers on his desk,” the complaint states. “The driver told others in the office that he had left flowers for plaintiff because plaintiff was a “pussy” and a “bitch” and that would he would treat plaintiff like one.
“Bushart reported the white driver’s use of the N-word to defendants. Defendants failed to take prompt and effective remedial action to address the driver’s conduct. At a later time, the driver called a white employee an ‘asshole.’ When defendants learned about this conduct, defendants terminated the driver.”
Bell says Bushart then assigned him duties that were not given to white employees and gave him “unobtainable deadlines” for his duties.
He also says Bushart told him to discipline Black employees who missed work for Kwanza, Martin Luther King Jr. Day or Juneteenth, but he says he refused to do so because the employees were not violating rules.
Bell also says another employee who complained of racial discrimination on his behalf told the defendants Bell was considering filing a lawsuit.
“Shortly after, Mr. Payne retaliated against plaintiff and all employees who might make similar complaints by prominently displaying shotguns as two Black truck drivers pulled into the warehouse,” the complaint states. “When plaintiff reported this incident to defendants, defendants retaliated by terminating one of the drivers and by harassing the other driver involved in the incident.”
In 2024, Bell says he was demoted to dispatcher and replaced by a less qualified white employee. He also says his replacement was paid more money for the same work, and he says his work hours were reduced, resulting in less pay.
Bell filed a charge of discrimination with the Missouri Human Rights Commission, which granted him a right to sue on February 20.
He says he has been a victim of racial discrimination and retaliation. He says that has caused him to suffer lost wages, emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life.
Bell seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre-judgment interest, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
He is being represented by Jonathan C. Berns and Megan J.F. Lombardo of Dobson Berns & Rich in St. Louis.
St. Louis Circuit Court case number 25SL-CC03848