Mehri & Skalet has filed a class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York against Canon U.S.A., Inc. on behalf of African American sales representatives who allege they have faced systemic companywide discrimination. The allegations include inequitable assignment of valuable accounts and territories, which in turn inevitably leads to disparities in compensation as earnings are directly tied to sales numbers and these numbers can’t be reached in inferior territories.
Plaintiffs also allege that Canon fails to provide comparable training and mentoring assistance to their African American employees as to their white counterparts. This further undermines the capacity of African American employees to rise through the organization. This cycle is reinforced by Canon management’s alleged use of a highly subjective process to promote employees; this subjectivity would be inclined to favor those already familiar to management through the networking advantages these development programs offer.
The improper business practices alleged to be employed by Canon have prevented the African American sales representatives who work there from advancing as far as their capabilities would permit. Through this lawsuit M&S hopes to correct these unjust practices before they inhibit the development of the next generation of Canon sales representatives and to provide adequate compensation for the employees whose careers have already been constrained.