"B&H forced Hispanic workers to use separate bathroom: feds"

<p>Winning a lawsuit of this sort is a pyrrhic victory at best. It is a business decision whether to hold or fold. Yes, people have won cases against the government. Look no further than Judicial Watch's FOIA suit to retrieve Hillary's emails (dutifully reported by those conservative rags, the New York Times and Washington Post). However, the suit was entirely on their nickel (and those of donors), without any penalties in doing so. In order to recover legal fees upon winning an enforcement case, you can't simply sue or ask for a summary judgement. The Feds have sovereign immunity, and it takes an act of Congress (literally) to file suit.</p>

<p>Yes, Chung, I read the articles and followed the meager links, perhaps with a bit more background and insight than you give me credit. The bar is exceedingly low for the EOC to file a civil rights suit. The Supreme Court ruled that statistical evidence can be used, even if no documented examples exist for individuals or a class of individuals, without regard to the job requirements (e.g., the ability to lift 50# boxes from the floor to a conveyor or table). The OSHA citation resulted in a fine of $32K, which in OSHA terms, is lunch money. An inspector will always find a problem with a fire extinguisher - dust bunnies within 2' or something. $32K wouldn't cover the typical fine for mounting the extinguisher an inch too high or low. Boxes stacked 25' high - ridiculous. Corrugated won't support a stack that high, and even pallets aren't stacked more than three high (9' to 12') without a rack.</p>

<p>Sometimes where there's smoke, there's just smoke.</p>

<p>Well I guess I will just see how it plays out. I am probably a year away from a purchase anyway as I have a lot of film and chemistry currently. I will decide next year if I want to shop there or not. </p>

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<p>Henry Posner has been very helpful to us for years; I am sure that this is a difficult time for him as well. It is appropriate for him not to comment on an on-going investigation and law suit.</p>

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<p>Since Henry can't be here 24 hours a day, I usually write to him when I see a photo.net thread relevant to B&H. He always thanks me for the heads-up, regardless of whether five people told him already. I wrote to him about this one. If he prefers not to comment, he can either post to say that or simply not post. It's not true that parties to a lawsuit invariably avoid commenting on it. Unless a judge has imposed a gag order, they will comment when they feel it would be helpful to them.</p>

<p>Right now, I think I will hold off on purchases from B&H until more is known. What I buy or don't buy doesn't mean anything to a behemoth like B&H, but it matters to me, and I just don't want to feel unhappy down the road.</p>

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<p>Headquartered in Manhattan, B&H has <strong>supply contracts</strong> with the General Services Administration and the Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Investigation valued in excess of $46 million.</p>

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<p>What does B&H supply to the government that's worth that much? I didn't realize B&H was that big and successful of a company. I always thought of them as a fledgling mom & pop online mail order business barely making payroll. Misread that one.</p>

<p>I'm glad they're that successful in such a competitive market but not by cutting corners on labor standards.</p>

<p>Won't need any photo equipment for a while, but have looked to B and H first for 15 years or so. Hate to see news like this. Unfortunately, we don't normally know much about any company we typically do business with, so who know what kinds of practices we're supporting I understand the head of Jimmy-Johns is involved in those 'canned' hunts that most find despicable, for example). </p>

<p>If these allocations prove to be true, I'm afraid I'll be sadly removing B and H from my list of resources. If such info comes out about Amazon, I'm screwed.</p>

<p>Innocent til proven guilty is the fairness our system provides. I will wait til all facts are in and believe withholding purchases is using the guilty til proven innocent approach. Here the facts come from a union that wants to break into B&H and the investigation is launched by an alphabet agency under the current administration where abuses like IRS and VA occur from employees with one of the largest unions around and where huge donations are made by unions, I have some doubts. As DeNiro said in Ronin, if there is any doubt, there is no doubt. But I will await both sides of the facts. Henry Posner has been an immense help to me over the years and when I roll down that thunder gray seamless, it is on his recommendation. Henry, thanks for all your participation here over the years. I think I will take that FM2 you recommended along on today's shoot in your honor. </p>

 

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<p>current administration</p>

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<p>LOL. As if governmental abuses didn't happen under all administrations. </p>

 

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<p>John H., only my first paragraph was directed at you... ...Nobody is suggesting that John H. is making innuendos. Those come from other follow up posts.</p>

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<p> The use of the word "you" continued elsewhere in the post which explains why it appeared to be otherwise. Thanks for the clarification.<br /><br /></p>

 

<p>I know DOJ once raided Gibson Guitars claiming that they were buying illegal rosewood for their Guitars. It turned out to be a raid in support of unions who If memory serves were not in Gibson's work force. DOJ never brought a case because Gibson went public about the true purpose of the raid.<br>

The point being that just because the Government is behind the claims doesn't necessarily make them true. Let's see what a court of law has to say before we ruin B&H's business with claims which may not be valid.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/gibson-guitars-exotic-wood_n_1747507.html">"Federal prosecutors on Monday announced a deal to drop a criminal case against Gibson Guitar Corp. after the instrument maker acknowledged its importations of exotic wood violated environmental laws."</a></p>

<p>also discussed here <a href="/off-topic-forum/00ZGB8">http://www.photo.net/off-topic-forum/00ZGB8</a></p>

<p>Every experience I have had with Unions in a relatively long life, both as a worker and manager has been negative. I have a B&H order on my desk, unfortunately relatively small, that will be phoned in tomorrow. <br>

A friend, confronted by union bullying to unionize his shop, despite paying well and giving excellent benefits, simply closed the business down permanently. Obviously a "victory" for the pro Union minority and Union organizers.<br>

Hopefully that will not prove to be the case with B&H.</p>

<p>Zane, the fact that they're allowed to continue importing the wood from India pretty much says it all.</p>

<p>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.<br /><br />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. <br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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.<br /><br />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 to us with any of your concerns and we hope we can continue to earn your business in the future.</p>

<p>Henry Posner<br /><strong>B&H Photo-Video</strong></p>

<p>Thanks Henry. And good luck in the days ahead. Like we are constantly reminded about internet deals that are too good to be true, so it is with bad news that is too bizarre to be true.<br>

Cheers.</p>

 

<p>I guess I'll answer my own question by posting this B&H link to their government contract procurement page I googled to find... http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/federal-gsa-contracts-gov-corporate-edu-sales.jsp/removemode/all</p>

<p>So B&H may be a family run business but so is Walmart and sometimes that company doesn't know what the right hand is doing from the left because they're such a big family. It's all about people. People are important and should be a priority. Not money! Humans can survive quite well on far less than they think and that includes executives, CEO's down to a forklift operator and package sorter. Figure it out!</p>

<p>I still don't know why the government needs that much camera/computer electronic equipment.</p>

Pretty shameful. I would be more sympathetic but this is not the first problem like this for B&H. I like the pricing at B&H but not that much.

No more B&H purchases for me until this is resolved.

<p>Unions can be great when they are organized well and have a specific purpose in mind such as making sure the workers are not treated as wage slaves or discriminated against. If they go beyond that, they have succumbed to the greed that they are fighting against. We are not sure what the case is in this story as it is well known that any written publication bends the story to “sell” the story. Like many of the NYC camera shops, B&H is run by fundamentalist “religious capitalists.” I wont mention the specific denomination. These are some of the greediest people on the planet. But that still does not tell us if they did what the articles said. Many times only a few people complain and the news story is distorted to sound like “a lot” of people said it. However, due to the nature of this lawsuit it seems like it has proceeded to a higher level. So do we continue to buy from B&H or hold off until we actually know that they are a good company. They certainly have good prices which is all most of us consider. How will they prove their innocence? Apparently in the past they were guilty. Why would any company treat workers like this? Cant we be decent humans? Now I am forced, due to the idiotic actions of this company, to look at other places for purchases such as Amazon.</p>

<p>"I still don't know why the government needs that much camera/computer electronic equipment." Use your imagination!</p>

<p>Thanks, Henry. B&H is still the most reliable vendor of photographic equipment that I am aware of. May it always be so.</p>

<p>--Lannie</p>

<p>In the end I will not be surprised if it turns out to be the Government bullying B&H, and using discrimination as a pretext to get something else they want from B&H. Businesses usually cave because it's cheaper for them, whereas it costs the Government nothing to go after them.</p>

"Every experience I have had with Unions in a relatively long

life, both as a worker and manager has been negative."

 

Yeah, Sandy, weekends off, a 40hr work week, and health

benefits are a big negative

<p>A normal lip service from an organization like B&H : At B&H we value each and every customer; your concern is our concern. LOL</p>

<p>Living and working in Texas (a right to work state) all my life without ever coming into contact with a union pretty much left me to being low balled during the '80's & '90's by a lot of startup businesses by good folks from up north, businesses that now no longer exist to where now my union has become the stars and bars.</p>

<p>If I'ld belonged to a union my quality of life would be quite different by comparison but then I wouldn't be jibber-jabbing about it in this forum.</p>

<p>See?! It all works out for the better!</p>

<p>Unions were once necessary, now a retrograde force. Evidenced by the decline of Unions everywhere but in the Public Sector (first initiated to win an election in NYC) where they have endless access to our wallets regardless of financial impact. </p>

<p>Once necessary? Lol. More than ever if you ask me. 60% of your population is in poverty and doesn't even have $1000 in the bank in case their car breaks down. </p>