Car salesman farted in coworker's office, pinched his nipples to 'reinforce dominance'

[JosephDredd]

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/state/texas/article212197919.html

Car salesman farted in coworker's office, pinched his nipples to 'reinforce dominance,' lawsuit says

Brett Bland is a car salesman who's had his fill of the raunchy, sales-bro culture at the southeast Texas dealership where he used to work.


According to court documents filed in Galveston County, Bland is suing his former boss and the dealership's parent company for what he calls the "sexually hostile," and — at times — smelly, work environment he endured for more than a year at the AutoNation Acura dealership in League City, just southeast of Houston, near the Texas Gulf Coast.


In his lawsuit, he accuses his former boss, Jeremy Pratt, of weaponizing his own farts and repeatedly pinching Bland's and other male subordinates' nipples.


"He reinforced dominance over his subordinates by regularly entering their enclosed offices, intentionally passing gas and then laughing as they were forced to breathe soiled air," the plaintiff's original petition in Gaveston County's 212th District Court says.

It also says that Pratt's behavior was tolerated in the office and by upper management, and that "opened the door" to even nastier behavior. Bland accuses Pratt of warning that if anyone complained about him to the human resources department, officials wouldn't do anything because Pratt had the director of Human Resources 'wrapped around his finger.' "


That was after an episode in February, when Pratt allegedly sent a group text to several employees including a doctored version of a photograph of Bland that falsely warned the other recipients that Bland might be a sex offender. According to the lawsuit, Pratt sent the text to 8-10 coworkers, saying "Keep your children safe," and "you are receiving this because there may be a risk of sex offender activity in your area."


Bland says that Pratt made another dealership employee, identified in the lawsuit as "David," to "Photoshop" Bland's image onto a background that resembled a jail booking photo or sex offender identification photo. Another recipient of the group text responded that he "was wondering why [Bland] kept asking if I had any pictures of my nieces or nephews."


The dealership eventually fired Pratt, but after his firing, the dealership subjected Bland to a policy under which he would be fired if he didn't sell eight vehicles per month, according to the lawsuit. Bland claims that policy, referred to in the lawsuit as an "8 or the gate" policy, was not in place before Pratt was fired.


The suit also alleges that AutoNation management has continued to allow Pratt to loiter at the dealership even after he was fired, where Pratt continues to belittle Bland and other former subordinates.


Bland filed the suit on May 25 in Galveston County's 212th District Court. The lawsuit does not state a dollar figure Bland is is seeking, but lists damages and court costs as relief.


The dealership declined to comment on the lawsuit when contacted by the Houston television station KPRC, and has not yet responded to the lawsuit, according to court documents.

Court documents at link. They're actually hilarious.

 

[kenshinx90]

 

[WaylonMercy5150]

 

[rj144]

Went with the old "nipple pinch" did he? That's old school but effective. The finger up butt crack has been scientifically shown to be more effective nowadays.

 

[JosephDredd]

lol never seen this one before. I love it.

 

[Curly Peibce]

I've done the same thing multiple times.

It works most of the time.

 

[DoctorTaco]

I like his style.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Who sold more cars?

 

[Amerikuracana]

Biggest weirdos in the world. If you come in normal, they gang on you. Weird environments, and it now definitely carries over into the world if customers, which is bad. They are overpaid and shouldn't be so miserable.. Really, they are being paid to be friendly and not miserable, but it gets lost along the way with the ridiculous hours.

Just miserable hacks.. If you find a truly decent one, he is likely being treated poorly by the weirdos. Buy the car from him.

Yes, I have worked in sales and been in the "in crowd" of miserable weirdos, faking finding them interesting to keep with the flow until I could escape; and I have been the new guy that's too normal and not miserable enough to fit in.

 

[Amerikuracana]

Also, 8 cars is like nothing. Pathetic if he couldn't get that. Selling cars is the easy part; dealing with weirdo coworkers in their 50s who belong in the nut house, who you expect to act human because they are old enough to be your dad, they are the only thing hard about that job.

 

[nhbfan8080]

"Weaponizing farts"

 

[Starck]

No surprise there - car sales is pretty much an extension of a high school environment. As for 8 cars a month, that's pretty reasonable. Anything less than 8 will definitely put you in poverty.

 

[Fedorgasm]

Pathetic.

Never complained about the behavior until he couldn't sell 8 cars and was being fired.

Then suddenly this harassment claim pops up.

 

[Fraz]

Nato are sending chemical weapon experts to the dealership to check for any trace of said weaponized farts.

 

[chubbman]

Brett Bland sounds like he is a bit of a bitch.

 

[ssBaldy]

I can relate to weaponizing farts. Also car salesman is a miserable job it seems