The other side of discrimination
The Top Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
Stanley Smith is known to his friends as Bubba, and he has a lot of friends – white, black, Latino. He’s like a lot of us in that respect.
He’s also a little-league baseball and softball coach, and counts among his players kids of a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Again, nothing out of the ordinary there.
That’s just how most of live in the post-civil rights era America.
We don’t even think about what race our friends and colleagues are.
We might be a generation or two away from race being off the list of divisive social issues, but that doesn’t mean that we’re at each others’ throats in the here and now.
Smith, for reasons you will soon see, is more in touch with race and ethnicity than he ever has been in his life.
“It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not fair or right for someone to be fired for something definitely that they didn’t do,” said Smith, who was fired from his job at the Hershey Chocolate of Virginia plant in Stuarts Draft after an unusual set of circumstances that began early the morning of May 2 with the discovery of a piece of tape hanging from the ceiling in a work area at the plant.
An African American coworker said the tape resembled a noose to her, and a manager soon called in Smith and several other coworkers to try to figure out if the tape was something more. Three employees, including Smith, were suspended from work without pay, and Smith was later fired despite his consistent protestations of innocence and his repeated insistence that he has no knowledge of how the tape ended up where it was and whether it was intended as some sort of racial threat.
The incident is the talk of the Hershey plant, according to several employees who spoke with The Augusta Free Press on the condition that their names and identities not be used.
“Honestly, I can’t figure out why they did what they did. I feel like they just picked somebody out so they could say they did something about it,” said a coworker who was also called in for questioning about the tape, and who told me that managers have warned employees not to talk to members of the news media at the risk of losing their jobs.
“Everybody there’s talking about it. And they’re asking why he was fired for it,” a second Hershey employee told me. “It’s a bunch of (BS). They just needed a fall guy. And he’s the fall guy. He didn’t have anything to do with it. None of them had anything to do with it. It’s (BS) that he got fired over something like this. And they know it.”
For the record, I contacted Hershey to get the company’s side of the story, and ended up talking with a company spokesman based at the Hershey, Pa., corporate headquarters, Kirk Seville.
“As a matter of policy, we do not comment on personnel issues, so there is no information that I can give you on this specific case,” Seville told me in a brief phone conversation last week.
“In general, I can tell you that we do take issues of safety and security very seriously, and we do not tolerate discrimination of any kind in the workplace,” Seville said.
Now back to Smith, who came forward with his story first and foremost because he wants to clear his name publicly. “I feel like my name is already out there. People already know what happened. They’re already talking about it all over the plant. People have been asking me about it at ballgames. And the thing is, the company is basically telling me that I’m lying when they don’t know what happened themselves. They don’t have any hard evidence. I mean, if somebody had actually seen me doing something like that, number one, I wouldn’t be doing all this. I would lay my head down in shame. I be ashamed of myself for doing something like that,” Smith said.
A second motivation for Smith to come forward is to raise issue with what he is calling “reverse discrimination” in the case. I discussed that topic with Norfolk attorney Raymond Hogge, who has made a name for himself over the past 20 years working for the most part on behalf of companies in the employment-discrimination area, and thus turned heads when he took on the case of a white employee in the Old Dominion University Police Department who claimed to be the victim of racial discrimination at the hands of African American employees in the majority-African American department.
A federal court entered a $200,000 judgment last month against the police department in favor of Hogge’s client, Brett Birkmeyer, over his wrongful termination from the department.
“I strongly believe that everyone should be treated equally without regard to their race, and that the workplace should be color-blind. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed in an effort to achieve those goals, and has been remarkably effective protecting black employees from race discrimination. In some instances, however, it has led to ‘reverse discrimination’ against white employees,” Hogge wrote in an e-mail to the AFP.
What we call “reverse discrimination” can occur when a company, “in response to a white employee’s claim of race discrimination, fears that investigating or taking disciplinary action against black employees will lead those black employees to assert their own claims of discrimination, and the organization therefore turns a blind eye to the rights of the white employees,” Hogge wrote. It can also occur, according to Hogge, when “in order to avoid liability under Title VII, a company must show that it took prompt and effective remedial measures to remedy any discriminatory acts by its employees, and companies, in order to be able to prove they did so, look for sacrificial lambs.”
“I cannot say whether the white employee who is the subject of your story was fired for this reason, but the facts you shared with me are consistent with that possibility,” Hogge wrote. “If he was fired for that reason, then the question becomes whether Hershey, when confronted with complaints by white employees complaining of a potentially racially motivated incident, fires black employees who, based upon similar evidence (or lack thereof), the company believes has not been sufficiently forthcoming with information relevant to its investigation.
“In other words, if the races of the individuals involved were switched, would Hershey still have fired the employee? If not, then the company may be discriminating against white employees on the basis of race in its response to race-discrimination claims, and may have discriminated against the white employee who is the subject of your article,” Hogge wrote.
The Birkmeyer case made headlines in part because these kinds of cases involving white employees claiming to be victims of discrimination are rare. “The number of them is quite small compared to the vast number of discrimination cases asserted by minorities and women,” Hogge wrote.
“Reverse-discrimination cases, however, seem to be coming up with increasing frequency,” according to Hogge. “This may be due, at least in part, to the fact that white employees are coming to realize that, in fact, there really is not such a thing as ‘reverse’ discrimination – discrimination is discrimination, regardless of whether the victim is black or white, and white employees have just as much right to complain of discrimination against them as do minority employees. It may also be due, at least in part, to the cumulative frustration of white employees who feel that their employers pander to the demands of minorities instead of maintaining a truly color-blind workplace.”
Smith feels those frustrations. He has been out of work for going on a month now, and he has bills to pay, and three children – Logan, 13, Deryck, 13, and Lacey, 11 – to take care of.
“I’m going to be working by next week,” he told me in a conversation that we had in his home late last week. “I’m not going to be out of work long enough to get an unemployment check. That’s just not me. I work. I pay my bills.”
Going public with his story isn’t about getting his job back at Hershey. “I wouldn’t want to go back there. It would be too hard. I’d be walking on eggshells,” Smith said. “I think they’d be looking for any excuse they could to get rid of me. This isn’t about going back there. It’s about doing what’s right. And this isn’t right.”
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I want you to know we miss you greatly Bubba! Work is not the same without you. It is a shame what has happened to you due to this woman’s hate and ignorance! We all know what type of person she is and she couldn’t even come close to being the type of person you are. Hold your head high and keep on fighting for what is right there is a lot of good people to stand behind you on this. No one here thinks one thing bad of you. As for “Looking for a book to read” If you don’t like this site and think the comments need to stop then why are you still posting comments? You also made the statement that you didn’t know Bubba and this woman, but funny thing is this woman’s name has never been mentioned , but yet you knew it. So who are you trying to fool? And as for the other statement you made about you didn’t think she wrote the statement from “HAPPY” that’s just the type of ignorance she has been spilling over with at Hershey’s. I know she wrote this statement because she was bragging about it at work. Now can you see what kind of person we are dealing with here. Real upstanding citizen HUH! Hershey’s needs to wake up and see this woman for what she is and what she’s doing to their decent employees. She’s so proud of what she has done but yet uses a screen name instead of her own name. Is she also so happy to know what the majority of this plant thinks about her. The only person that’s racist and a bigot is her!!
I am still waiting to see if Hersheys actually does something about this mess.You would think that by now they would see that they did the wrong thing.I am praying for Bubbas family.And I hope they keep fighting.
HEY THERE BUBBA I TRIED TO GO TO YOUR WEB SITE BUT I COULD NOT FIND IT… I AM GOING TO TRY AND GET YOUR PHONE # FROM SOME ONE AT WORK AND CALL YOU… ME AND MY OTHER HALF WOULD LOVE TO TAKE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY OUT TO DINNER….
It is no doubt that our plant is now at an all time low. It was once a great place to work. It is now close to being intolerable.
A union is the only thing that can protect us from this arrogant and incompetent management. PA will listen only when the cards are being signed.
United we stand. Save Our Plant
Just thought I would let “me” know as I said before, I admire this forum and the only reason I am commenting back is to let you know that I honestly don’t know her.
Who doesn’t know of this ladies name it’s not like it is being hushed hushed at Hershey’s. And if she was bragging at Hersheys, than yes that was very igorant!
So for now on, I’ll just read the comments cause like I said before I admire this forum and will do all those a favor and not comment about anything.
So please don’t comment to me, or about me.
The lady who was suspended with Bubba (I don’t want to mention her name) has our number.And thank you,it makes tears come to my eyes some days,to get on here and read how many people love and support my husband.He has that personality about him,where he simply has no enemies.
And the website is:
clearbubbasnamenow.bravehost.com
I have been reading this since it was published everyday and I am in shock that comments are still rolling in.I thought that would die down and go away like so many other terrible things at Hersheys have.Apparently,it hasn’t and I don’t see an end in sight.I think that this subject shouldn’t go quietly and I am glad that Bubba isn’t either.This story has been on the lips of employees since it came out and every night more and more discussions of it are taking place.We are really fired up about this,as we all should be.Things like this goes on and everyday,and no one does anything about it,because they feel like a white boy yelling discrimination is not legitimate.Well,I am here to tell you,it is.Hersheys need to step up to the plate here and do something quick,because I sense a mutiny about to take place.our plant is gone to the dogs and they are willing to sit back and watch as long as their pockets keep running deep.SAD SAD SAD.Bubba, don’t back down,our plant is facing a revolution.The first battle fought will be replacing this worthless management we have with people who care more about the human factor then the almighty dollar.I really think its hilarious.Paul walks around here like he’s god almighty himself, he didnt expect this from a good ole country boy.Maybe when he flipped that coin to see would be the fall guy,he should’ve called ‘tails’!LMAO.
When is this picket?I am ready,I have my sign already made.It says….In loving memory of Bubba.Just like the stickers we had made and put on our bumpcaps,that management made us remove because ‘she ‘ had a fit.How is that racist?she said we were backing a racist.So we cant talk about this or protest it.Its more or less,:shut up and take it.We are backing bubba and he is no more racist than anyone is.She is the racist here.We dont have any rights.We cant express our anger that they fired a good guy and kept a worthless one instead.they may as well give her an office job,she already takes 1 hour lunches and 45 min breaks like those asses do.while we take 10 min for break and 30 min for lunch.They know she does this too and nobody says anything.WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?Blacks are entitled to longer breaks then white people?Gimme a damn break.She wears hoops in her ears.the policy is jewerly is forbidden.NOBODY SAYS ANYTHING!Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?rules are rules.But they dont apply her.I say picket too,i say send this to PA and let them see how paul has ruined this plant.something has gotta change before someone is axed.
I wonder what Milton Hershey would have thought about this mess?I can tell you,I think she would have been fired her first week here,black or not.Just because she is black doesn’t entitle her special priviledges that the rest of the plant doesn’t have.The fact that this entire plant is upset over this should tell them something.People get fired from here all the time.Do you remember at any of thise times, that we responded like this?Hell no.The difference between this termination and all the others is that this is criminally wrong.This was a low down dirty move to save themselves.Really from nothing.The tape didn’t even look like a noose.But they cowered when they were threatened with the NAACP.The head of the NAACP could look at this tape and see it was nothing.But,NO,to avoid any embarrassment,they choose to get rid of somebody to save face.I personally hope that Bubba buries Hersheys and this useless woman.Good luck Bubba.
let’s set up a date. i am ready for a picket also. how about it people? let’s make them do something about this.
Bubba it was good to hear your laugh the other day when we talked. That’s what a lot of us have seemed to miss the most around here since you’ve been gone. It’s good to know that you can still laugh and be the great person you are after all thats happened to you. Just remember you are not alone in all this, we all know what a wonderful person you are and don’t let this ridiculous and unfair accusation change who you are. You have my number feel free to call me anytime if you need anything or just want to talk. Just because you are not at Hershey’s anymore doesn’t mean our friendship has to end. I wish you and your family my best. Keep in touch.
With everything you have been through with these past weeks, I am so sorry your pain has been compounded by the loss of your grandfather Stanley Sr. Things seem to get worse before they are better. Keep your head high and don’t forget you have people who are wishing only the best for you. All you need to do is see the support and prayers that are being submitted in this forum.
Bubba, although we’ve never had the pleasure of meeting, I feel like I know you through all these comments, and I believe you and support you in what you are doing.
I also work at Hershey, 2nd shift, and hadn’t heard anymore about this unfortunate, ridiculous incident for several weeks, and the other day a co-worker gave me this website to check out, and now I’ve passed it along as well.
Everyone needs to hear the whole story and just what is and what is not going on in that place.
I have been at Hershey for 6 years and have never seen or heard anything as unfair and wrong as this.
When I read your story, I got fired up, and I knew that if I had been in your shoes, I would be doing the exact same thing!
People on here are not lying or exaggerating when they say the place is going to hell since Paul came in as our plant manager! He’s very rude and disrespectful to us out on the floor, but when we have our quarterly meetings, and he’s in front of the rest of the staff, he acts like he’s interested in what we think or have to say, but we are not fooled!
I have said from day one of him coming to our plant, that he is a closer! Meaning, he is actually there to eventually shut us down like he did the last 2 plants he ‘managed’.
Not to get off track, but we are dealing with a very selfish and inconsiderate man, who is looking out only for himself!
You are doing the right thing, stay strong and charge forward!
We are all here behind you and we hope you sue the pants off of Hershey and then ‘her’ too.!!!
We all need to join together and help this family out. This could be you. Ever think of how easily this could happen? We need to stand up and help raise these legal fees as much as we can. I have visited the website and almost 1,000 people have already viewed it. If each person just sent in a dollar or two, this money could be easiily raised. We can all afford that. I am sending in $100.00 myself. I am not loaded but I believe in this person we all come to know and he deserves our help. He is a good man, we all know it and for those of you who haven’t met him I hope that one day you can, until then, let’s do what we can . For those of you who are having trouble getting to this website, run it under Google.
Hang in there Bubba,were still here for ya through all of this.Youre a great person it will all work out.
Okay, today I am feeling IRATE!Someone who is very close to me (family) quit her job at Hershey because this same vindictive woman harrased her relentlessly.She went to Lori,who sent her to Tony M (who were both very nice about this) they eventually sent her to see Mike,telling her that she needed to report this harassment.She did have a meeting with Mike,who was his cold,abrasive self.She explained what this woman was doing and how she wanted to continue her employment and even though she is our family,had no intention of letting it affect her work.Mike response was basically,”we will do an investigation”.Now for those of you who are keeping count,thats alot of complaints on 1 individual.AND STILL NOTHING!This woman has the power to get any of you at any time fired.Thats alot of power.And guess who has given her that power and supremcy?You know its funny,just when I feel like I have heard enough,I hear something else.Hurricane Kim is about to blow through the gates of Hershey.Now,I want satisfaction for my husband and my family.We will see you in Federal court Mike and Paul.You best bring your game,because you will need it.And enough with your pitiful investigations, Mike.We know that they are a big joke just like you and Paul.Hows the investigation into the ‘white trash’ graffiti going?Anyone get fired yet?No,because Hersheys wont fire or disipline a minority employee,they are to scared.Hersheys you better get out your checkbook.
hershey is going down down down… they need to send Paul back to CA. and send “HER” back to where ever she came from… She makes me sick to even look at… and Paul is just like her.. I have not had anything to do with this mike guy but i am sure he is not much better… what is happend to our plant it was a great place to work.. any one of us could be next…
Hang in there Bubba. We are still here for you and your family
I have worked at Hersheys for a long time and things have definately changed over the years. Not all for the good but we have to change sometimes whether we like it or not. I don’t know Bubba but reading the comments i feel he has been shafted. I feel sorry for the lady who feels discriminated against over everything.I know her life can’t be a very happy one.I can only pray that God will give her peace with herself one day. There have been lots of situations at Hershey over the years.Some funny,some suprising, some confusing. It’s funny and sad how people do things to lose a job that pays their bills. But there are people in this world like that, they make bad decisions. I don’t think Bubba did this and it was a bad decision on Hershey “management” to fire him like they did. I think the comments are great but Bubba and Kim,some of the comments you make seem incriminating to me. I would be careful what you write even though i know how upset you all are. I would be too. But i don’t want to see you hurt yourselves in a court case for things that get out of hand on this site, if you know what i mean. I pray for Bubba and his family and i hope he finds a better job than at Hershey. I also want to make a point about when people say we need to boycot Hersheys. I and others, the good folk at Hershey, yes there are a lot of us, need our jobs too. It is our livlihood,it pays our bills for now. I know i need my job so please people don’t take it out on the innocent employees that have absolutely nothing to do with what happened.
Again Bubba and Kim I hope you get what your out to get and I pray for your family. Take care.
I worked for the Hershey plant in Oakdale California for many years. Things like this would happen at the plant..We had a few people always playing the race card hispanic’s,whites and blacks. And the ones who would cry discrimination would be the one’s who always caused the problems in the area. And for us co-workers we had to put up with all the crap they would dish out day after day. Yeah we also had our meetings with HR, we’d end up the bad guys when the others would be treated like they owned a piece of Hershey. Also getting away with safety issues,long breaks and potty mouths. Paul was our plant manager . Now look. They shut us down and moved to Mexico. Bubba, I don’t know you. Good luck and be blessed. Feeling your pain in California.
well, now the rumor is that Paul will be leaving our plant and going to Mexico, and although they haven’t made the official announcement yet, we all believe it to be true, and it can’t come soon enough! Then maybe we can get our plant back to order and we can all focus on doing our jobs with pride again.
i hope this is true that Paul will be going to Mexico. I hope they make room for Mike Bietzel right beside him. What destruction he created. Noone should have lost their job and noone should have been disciplined for it either. She should have been sent to discrimination classes. she was the one uncomfortable back there with the white people. Why? She has the insecurity with her own color and race-they didn’t. Thank you to CALIFORNIA employee. Glad word is spreading that far. Please elaborate on any issues you think may help out here in VA.
Le’s remember that when a company brings in new management that they are under normally atleast a 5 year contract at entry. so, Hershey company is stuck with them also, but can relocate them. It’s all normally in what they want to do about it. This is true with most companies, Hershey I am sure is similar.
There were three hispanic sisters who worked as santation relief in KWA who would never do there work and .the Supervisor finally called them on it. So the sisters filed discrimination….The supervisor was suspended and when he returned he was still there supervisor , BUT he could never again tell them what jobs to do or even speak to them after that. And the sisters got paid to just walk around all day with smurky smiles on their faces ……Go figure.
Hello, to all the good workers at stuarts draft , just in case no one has told you folks that in a while.Reason I say that is , I know who your manager they have there favoites and rule by fear talk the talk ,but walk the talk was not part of the deal. I’m out here in cali one of our big issues was morale was kept low ,why to this day i still can’t figure it out .One thing I do know is that each boss always wanted someone that wasn’t sharp under them they were afraid of challenge for lack of knowledge on there part ,in which streamline evolutionary devlopment stops.The first indacation that this is true is that the bearings of morale are rusty how anyone can not know less resistance takes less energy is failing the most simple of tests .People can get hurt when thing such as morale are affected call ins its all negitive so how can someone atop the hills judgement be taken seriously..By the way good luck Bubba and his family and the rest of you all, safety in numbers and promotions with-in.
hey there Bubba! Where are you man? What’s going on? Hope that you have found a better job, and thatthings are going well for you. Just to let people know-Mr. Puskar is not going to Mexico. Just a hopeful rumor that got started. But manager Jim Wade left after 20+ yaers to McKee Foods. T.G. got shafted to 2nd shift. Glenn has retired and left. And Diane gave up her position as manager to go back on the production lines. WOW!!!!!!!!! What changes-and drastic ones. Wonder why???????? Are they seeing it too?
still wondering how things are going for you. haven’t been any new updates on your website since August . would be great to know how you are. we’re still here for you.
seen bubba? or know why have they stopped talking on here? have they had their internet service shut down?
i seen bubba at kroger about a month ago or so. he was picking kim up from work there. i have been back there and asked for her but they said she quit her job. haven’t seen them since.