WoW B&H Sued by US Government for Discrimination (Page 2): :thumbup:...

orrie smith Loc: Kansas

henryp wrote:

We appreciate your concern and your loyalty, and want to take this time to help you understand what has been happening recently. At B&H we value each and every customer; your concern is our concern. We know you have choices when shopping and your choice of our establishment is something we do not and must not take lightly. We want to continue earning your business and instilling pride in your choice for photo and electronics.

B&H is a family owned business, a success that has been built for over 40 years from a small storefront in New York City to the worldwide enterprise we are today. This is credit to our dedicated and devoted employees, many of whom have been with our company for decades.

Every one of our employees is treated with respect and dignity, no matter of race, religion or gender. The average employee tenure at B&H far exceeds most of our competitors and as well as most employers of any kind. Our employees are well compensated, offered generous benefits, and they are given 17 paid days off in addition to 3 weeks paid vacation. Few companies offer this.

The allegations you have been hearing about are largely made by people who have never set foot in a B&H facility. For the time being, we will address several of the accusations, as they are far from factual. We can declare outright that B&H does NOT have any segregated bathrooms by race or religion, and anyone working at B&H knows that to be true. Additionally, any similar contentions are not only inaccurate, but bizarre.

There are always areas where we can better ourselves, and these are issues that B&H is committed to strengthening as we move forward. Our goal is to create an even friendlier environment for our employees, where there can be no doubt that their needs, concerns, and well being are noticeably our primary focus. Our roots are from a place where discrimination affected so many of the very people who are now part of the B&H family, and we built this company and brand to defy what were the norms around us, and to give everyone the chance to succeed, to care for their families and homes, and to be happy. That will not change, but will only be improved upon.

What you may not be told in these scurrilous narratives is that B&H chose to keep its jobs in New York, rather than opting, as many others do, to outsource jobs to areas overseas where labor rates are lower. Our call centers and online management teams are right here. We chose a very different route, and we continue to make daily decisions taking into account first and foremost our dedicated employees and customers and we will continue to do so.

Over the next few weeks and months, you will hear more and see the growth, and we will make sure our customer and our employee are kept keenly aware of the situation. Please feel free to reach out to us with any of your concerns and we hope we can continue to earn your business in the future.

We appreciate your concern and your loyalty, and w... (show quote)

:thumbup:

boomboom Loc: Stow, Ohio

Personally, I don't think there is any company that can make every employee happy. Obviously B&H is doing something right or they wouldn't do the business they are doing. Their employees wouldn't be as efficient and knowledgeable as they are if they were discontented. In this day and age, any one who isn't handed everything they think they deserve is sue happy. Maybe there is some things to be improved and that's what the investigation will determine. In the mean time my business will go to B&H just because of my past experience. I can only hope this law suit doesn't deteriorate the find product B&H provides.

Jim Bob

boomboom wrote:

Personally, I don't think there is any company tha... (show quote)

Your company-biased diatribe is noted. According to your "logic" any company which is doing well financially is above reproach. Former slaveholders would love your take on this issue. Geesus. What a dunce.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

boomboom wrote:

Personally, I don't think there is any company tha... (show quote)

I just can't get past this:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/ofccp/OFCCP20160384.pdf

This is far beyond a disgrunted employee or an isolated incident without merit - 15 documented instances of labor law violations - hmm . . .

henryp Loc: New York, NY

Gene51 wrote:

I would still like to speak with current and former employees to see if things actually change there.

Noted photographer and ICP instructor Katrin Eismann visited B&H's Manhattan warehouse this week. She posted comments and photos on her Facebook wall at https://www.facebook.com/PhotoshopDiva and discussion ensued. Among the comments I found these:

Deborah Gilbert: I've worked at B&H for over 4 years and have not seen what you are referring too. I am 58 years old (did I just admit that out loud?) and have worked at a lot of different companies. I have encountered sexism at every single one - but I would say I have experienced much LESS at B&H than anywhere else. AND B&H is the only company where I have not experienced any sexual harassment at all. Is it a quirky place to work? Yes. Whenever you are working with people of different cultures there is a lot of accomodating that goes on. That is a natural part of working and living in a diverse place. But is there hatefulness, bigotry and abuse? Absolutely NOT.

Paige Denkin: I work there. I am female. I am not Jewish. I have gauged ears and tattoos. I speak openly about my experiences and don't hide behind allegations on social media. My superiors encourage the fact that I have the right to speak my mind and feel confident enough to respond to posts just like this. I am very loved and taken care of by this company. I've never felt threatened or segregated. There's been a couple times that doors haven't been held open for me, but my time in Katrin's graduate program granted me tougher skin. My boss is a female and her boss a male. I've never felt anything other than respect and honesty. My team is trusted and solely responsible for being the faces and personality for B&H across the entire world. We are eccentric, none of us are Hasidic, there are women on my team including ones of Spanish heritage, men of different races. I did my time in the store as well, before you question my authenticity (and my fiancé has spent a year and a half in sales).. and I had an amazing team of coworkers and a manager that let me off work early to attend the SVA lectures even after I had graduated and began with B&H full time. They let us move our schedules around so we could work together during weekends on photo projects. I was paid the same amount as my male counterparts and was actually promoted quicker.

Thank you, Katrin, for taking the time to expose the truth. There are no segregated bathrooms, in the store, warehouse or business office. The warehouse has secured union representation (and you'd think after all the picketing they did a couple months ago, they would have mentioned such a blatant example of racism if there were such segregated bathrooms....). The store employees do not require extra representation, they are treated above and beyond any other job I've witness. With the highest starting pay I could imagine, full health care, 17 paid Jewish holidays and early Friday's and no Saturday for the entire time they work under the company. Even 2 weeks paid vacation on top of the paid Jewish holidays. If we are asked to work holidays like New Years or thanksgiving (even on snow days!) we are given DOUBLE time and a half... And it's not even a requirement to work those holidays, we literally fight each other for the opportunity to work them. And they still reach out to me for store support during things like Black Friday - because we are family.

I'm sorry some of you had a poor experience in the past (and find it applicable to call Katrin naive because she's a woman) but as a current employee, I am happy to have found a home within this company and industry. The people I've met from working at B&H have already changed my life for the better and I couldn't be more grateful.

Deborah Gilbert (again): Anyone who has ever walked into B&H knows it looks like New York, big and diverse. It is exactly the same behind the scenes. Zero segregation. No separate bathrooms. The charges have no bearing on reality. Everyone who works here gets THE SAME benefits: health insuance, 401K with matching, 17 paid holidays, paid lunches, paid vacation, time and a half for overtime (which is voluntary). I'm glad to work here. We do good work and we help people change and improve their lives through the joy of creativity. THAT is the TRUE B&H story.

Brent Eysler: Hey, we don't get free coffee In my department lol. Thanks for the post Kartrin!

JC Carey: I worked at B&H for a little over 5 years and through time in the industry learned that as a salesman and marketing rep that we had the highest pay in the industry without having to work for commission or other perks programs. I never worked in the warehouse but I have visited. I never saw this kind of mistreatment. I used a bathroom that was what I expect in a warehouse. Didn't see any special "non-Hispanic" bathroom. No "non-goy" bathrooms. Has the company had issues with women due to the nature of how the religion treats women? It has. So have many industries in the US and world without the crutch of religion to blame.

Henry Posner: In 20+ years I've never seen anyone here decline or refuse to discuss business with a women. For many years before she retired the lead rep to B&H from Sony was a woman. My liaison at TrustPilot is a woman. Until she left for another position with a shorter commute, our webmaster from 1996-1999 was a woman. The lead sales manager for the store pro-video department is a woman. I could go on, and on.

Hadassah Meryl Ellis: I worked for B&H for 3 years. In that time I had business meetings with many male employees, ranging from rank and file workers to the CEO. I never had anyone refuse to conduct business with me.

JC Carey: ...My time in marketing i had two female managers and there are other females in power at the company which you would not see in some other orthodox owned business...

Jim Bob

henryp wrote:

Noted photographer and ICP instructor Katrin Eismann visited B&H's Manhattan warehouse this week. She posted comments and photos on her Facebook wall at https://www.facebook.com/PhotoshopDiva and discussion ensued. Among the comments I found these:

Deborah Gilbert: I've worked at B&H for over 4 years and have not seen what you are referring too. I am 58 years old (did I just admit that out loud?) and have worked at a lot of different companies. I have encountered sexism at every single one - but I would say I have experienced much LESS at B&H than anywhere else. AND B&H is the only company where I have not experienced any sexual harassment at all. Is it a quirky place to work? Yes. Whenever you are working with people of different cultures there is a lot of accomodating that goes on. That is a natural part of working and living in a diverse place. But is there hatefulness, bigotry and abuse? Absolutely NOT.

Paige Denkin: I work there. I am female. I am not Jewish. I have gauged ears and tattoos. I speak openly about my experiences and don't hide behind allegations on social media. My superiors encourage the fact that I have the right to speak my mind and feel confident enough to respond to posts just like this. I am very loved and taken care of by this company. I've never felt threatened or segregated. There's been a couple times that doors haven't been held open for me, but my time in Katrin's graduate program granted me tougher skin. My boss is a female and her boss a male. I've never felt anything other than respect and honesty. My team is trusted and solely responsible for being the faces and personality for B&H across the entire world. We are eccentric, none of us are Hasidic, there are women on my team including ones of Spanish heritage, men of different races. I did my time in the store as well, before you question my authenticity (and my fiancé has spent a year and a half in sales).. and I had an amazing team of coworkers and a manager that let me off work early to attend the SVA lectures even after I had graduated and began with B&H full time. They let us move our schedules around so we could work together during weekends on photo projects. I was paid the same amount as my male counterparts and was actually promoted quicker.

Thank you, Katrin, for taking the time to expose the truth. There are no segregated bathrooms, in the store, warehouse or business office. The warehouse has secured union representation (and you'd think after all the picketing they did a couple months ago, they would have mentioned such a blatant example of racism if there were such segregated bathrooms....). The store employees do not require extra representation, they are treated above and beyond any other job I've witness. With the highest starting pay I could imagine, full health care, 17 paid Jewish holidays and early Friday's and no Saturday for the entire time they work under the company. Even 2 weeks paid vacation on top of the paid Jewish holidays. If we are asked to work holidays like New Years or thanksgiving (even on snow days!) we are given DOUBLE time and a half... And it's not even a requirement to work those holidays, we literally fight each other for the opportunity to work them. And they still reach out to me for store support during things like Black Friday - because we are family.

I'm sorry some of you had a poor experience in the past (and find it applicable to call Katrin naive because she's a woman) but as a current employee, I am happy to have found a home within this company and industry. The people I've met from working at B&H have already changed my life for the better and I couldn't be more grateful.

Deborah Gilbert (again): Anyone who has ever walked into B&H knows it looks like New York, big and diverse. It is exactly the same behind the scenes. Zero segregation. No separate bathrooms. The charges have no bearing on reality. Everyone who works here gets THE SAME benefits: health insuance, 401K with matching, 17 paid holidays, paid lunches, paid vacation, time and a half for overtime (which is voluntary). I'm glad to work here. We do good work and we help people change and improve their lives through the joy of creativity. THAT is the TRUE B&H story.

Brent Eysler: Hey, we don't get free coffee In my department lol. Thanks for the post Kartrin!

JC Carey: I worked at B&H for a little over 5 years and through time in the industry learned that as a salesman and marketing rep that we had the highest pay in the industry without having to work for commission or other perks programs. I never worked in the warehouse but I have visited. I never saw this kind of mistreatment. I used a bathroom that was what I expect in a warehouse. Didn't see any special "non-Hispanic" bathroom. No "non-goy" bathrooms. Has the company had issues with women due to the nature of how the religion treats women? It has. So have many industries in the US and world without the crutch of religion to blame.

Henry Posner: In 20+ years I've never seen anyone here decline or refuse to discuss business with a women. For many years before she retired the lead rep to B&H from Sony was a woman. My liaison at TrustPilot is a woman. Until she left for another position with a shorter commute, our webmaster from 1996-1999 was a woman. The lead sales manager for the store pro-video department is a woman. I could go on, and on.

Hadassah Meryl Ellis: I worked for B&H for 3 years. In that time I had business meetings with many male employees, ranging from rank and file workers to the CEO. I never had anyone refuse to conduct business with me.

JC Carey: ...My time in marketing i had two female managers and there are other females in power at the company which you would not see in some other orthodox owned business...

Noted photographer and ICP instructor Katrin Eisma... (show quote)

Methinks you protest too much. No reasonable person expects you to come on here and admit to discrimination. Give us a break.

Jim Bob

Gene51 wrote:

I just can't get past this:

http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/ofccp/OFCCP20160384.pdf

This is far beyond a disgrunted employee or an isolated incident without merit - 15 documented instances of labor law violations - hmm . . .

Absolutely.

henryp Loc: New York, NY

Jim Bob wrote:

Methinks you protest too much. No reasonable person expects you to come on here and admit to discrimination. Give us a break.

So my options are not to reply and be accused of ducking or reply and be told, "Give us a break?" Okay. :-)

Jim Bob

henryp wrote:

So my options are not to reply and be accused of ducking or reply and be told, "Give us a break?" Okay. :-)

Your options are to follow the advice of your lawyer. Coming on here telling us what a great employer you are is about as convincing as Adolph Hitler telling us how much he loves the Jews. Just doesn't cut it.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

Jim Bob wrote:

Methinks you protest too much. No reasonable person expects you to come on here and admit to discrimination. Give us a break.

Why don't you give him a break? Because charges are made by a very left-wing, pro-union admin does not mean squat in my book. I have been quite happy with B&H and prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt. No reasonable person is going to presume guilt just because a liberal administration has compiled a list of "charges." But that's just me.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

Jim Bob wrote:

Your options are to follow the advice of your lawyer. Coming on here telling us what a great employer you are is about as convincing as Adolph Hitler telling us how much he loves the Jews. Just doesn't cut it.

Wow that was uncalled for!!!

Bill_de Loc: US

Jim Bob wrote:

Methinks you protest too much.

Methinks that works both ways.

Here is the only thing I can base my opinion on, my interaction with the employees. Whether in the store, or on the phone, the employees not only do their job, they are friendly.

A number of years back after seeing Mr. Posner's name popping up all over the internet, I was in the store and asked if there really is a Mr. Posner? I thought it might just be a name. The clerk, without hesitation, said there sure is. Come on upstairs and I'll introduce you. I declined as I didn't want to waste his time.

What impressed me was that I was not asked why I wanted to see him. There were no 'gate keepers'. Any company that gives such open access to its management doesn't feel they have anything to hide.

In today's environment anyone with an agenda always goes after the most successful. They count on making news and getting people with no knowledge of the situation to jump on the bandwagon. We have an anti business government right now, which just exacerbates the situation.

The most important thing to remember is that in our country, "Innocent until proven guilty".

--

Jim Bob

Bill_de wrote:

Methinks that works both ways. br br Here is the ... (show quote)

I don't need lectures from the likes of you about the Constitutional presumption of innocence. I never said BH was guilty in the first place.

Jim Bob

Basil wrote:

Why don't you give him a break? Because charges are made by a very left-wing, pro-union admin does not mean squat in my book. I have been quite happy with B&H and prefer to give them the benefit of the doubt. No reasonable person is going to presume guilt just because a liberal administration has compiled a list of "charges." But that's just me.

Oh is that the best you can do? The old government conspiracy theory. Geesus. And the "conservative" administrations get a free pass? Boy, why don't you quit while you still have an ounce of respect left? Sure am glad you didn't have a vote on the 13th and 14th amendments.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

Jim Bob wrote:

Oh is that the best you can do? The old government conspiracy theory. Geesus. And the "conservative" administrations get a free pass? Boy, why don't you quit while you still have an ounce of respect left? Sure am glad you didn't have a vote on the 13th and 14th amendments.

Yeah whatever dude.