A former Comcast employee in Connecticut claims that a store manager forced employees to be tied to a chair and hit in the face with pies for not meeting sales goals. He is now seeking more than $15,000 in a lawsuit against the company.
According to a lawsuit, the former Comcast employee is suing because his store manager in Plainville allegedly had a policy that employees had “to tie the lowest-ranked sales consultant for the prior month to a chair in the back office and thereafter assault that person by violently smashing a cream pie in their face.”
“Defendant — through its employees, servants, agents — intentionally created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment through its active policy to promote its revenues and profits by ordering employees to tie down and physically assault underperforming co-workers,” the New Haven Register reports the lawsuit claims.
David Figueroa of Meriden filed the complaint on July 9 in Connecticut Superior Court against Comcast Cable Communications Management LLC, operating under the name Comcast/Xfinity. The complaint alleges constructive discharge and negligent supervision, among its claims.
He claims the store manager directed other staff members to take part in and document the punishments on video, which resulted in bodily harm, humiliation, and disgrace for individuals targeted.
He also claimed the store manager kept a publicly visible chart ranking its sales staff and identifying those who had either received the punishment or were on the verge of receiving it.
“Defendant’s conduct has caused Plaintiff to suffer damages including, but not limited to, lost wages, compensatory damages, economic damages, loss of employment benefits, damage to reputation, and emotional distress, as well as loss of enjoyment of life,” the suit continued.
The employee says he told a regional manager about the punishments
Figueroa says he contacted a Comcast regional manager and told her that the policies “made him feel uncomfortable and caused him concern as to whether he could continue being employed” by the company, but the regional manager never followed up on his complaints.
“Plaintiff was repeatedly exposed to a violent and hostile work environment,” the lawsuit added. “This intolerable environment was created by specific policies at the Comcast Store designed and implemented by Plaintiffs manager for the purpose of bullying and intimidating Retail Sales Consultants to meet sales goals and receive positive customer survey responses or be subject to violent and humiliating assaults in front of co-workers.”
A Comcast spokesperson told WFSB News, “The Company has zero tolerance for harassment, humiliation, or any behavior that compromises a respectful and safe workplace. This matter is in litigation, so we will not comment on the specific allegations, other than to say that we disagree with the claims in the complaint and its characterization of the alleged events, and intend to fully respond through the legal process.”