Trader Joe’s Faces Racial Discrimination Accusations
Trader Joe’s likes to position itself as a friendlier, more welcoming and progressive neighborhood grocery store — one where liberals tend to shop while conservatives prefer, say, Walmart. But according to a new lawsuit filed against the California-based company by a Philadelphia man, some of the Trader Joe’s stores in the Philadelphia area are anything but friendly, welcoming and progressive.
In his lawsuit, which was recently filed in Philadelphia’s federal court, 40-year-old Mount Airy resident James Jarmon says he started working at the Center City location in September 2017 as a “mate,” the corporation’s term for an assistant store manager. (Non-management employees are “crew.”) Then the company transferred him to the Media location in Delaware County, which is where he says his problems began.
According to the allegations in Jarmon’s lawsuit, he was targeted with racist remarks and behavior by other employees of the store.
