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By LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) - In a case that gave a legal airing to the debate over use of the N-word among blacks, a federal jury has rejected a black manager's argument that it was a term of love and endearment when he aimed it at black employee.

Jurors awarded $30,000 in punitive damages Tuesday after finding last week that the manager's four-minute rant was hostile and discriminatory, and awarding $250,000 in compensatory damages.

The case against Rob Carmona and the employment agency he founded, STRIVE East Harlem, hinged on the what some see as a complex double standard surrounding the word: It's a degrading slur when uttered by whites but can be used at times with impunity among blacks.

But 38-year-old Brandi Johnson told jurors that being black didn't make it any less hurtful when Carmona repeatedly targeted her with the slur during a March 2012 tirade about inappropriate workplace attire and unprofessional behavior.

Johnson, who taped the remarks after her complaints about his verbal abuse were disregarded, said she fled to the restroom and cried for 45 minutes.

"I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed," Johnson testified.

The jury ordered Carmona to pay $25,000 in punitive damages and STRIVE to pay $5,000.

Outside court after her victory, Johnson said she was "very happy" and rejected Carmona's claims from the witness stand Tuesday that the verdict made him realize he needs to "take stock" of how he communicates with people he is trying to help.

"I come from a different time," Carmona said hesitantly, wiping his eyes repeatedly with a cloth.

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NY case puts N-word use among blacks on trial - NBC40.net

Published: Wed, September 4, 2013 @ 12:00 a.m.

Associated Press

NEW YORK

In a case that gave a legal airing to the debate over use of the N-word among blacks, a federal jury has rejected a black managers argument that it was a term of love and endearment when he aimed it at a black employee.

Jurors awarded $30,000 in punitive damages Tuesday after finding last week that the managers four-minute rant was hostile and discriminatory, and awarding $250,000 in compensatory damages.

The case against Rob Carmona and the employment agency he founded, STRIVE East Harlem, hinged on what some see as a complex double standard surrounding the word: Its a degrading slur when uttered by whites but can be used at times with impunity among blacks.

But 38-year-old Brandi Johnson told jurors that being black didnt make it any less hurtful when Carmona repeatedly targeted her with the slur during a March 2012 tirade about inappropriate workplace attire and unprofessional behavior.

Johnson, who taped the remarks after her complaints about his verbal abuse were disregarded, said she fled to the restroom and cried for 45 minutes.

I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed, Johnson testified.

The jury ordered Carmona to pay $25,000 in punitive damages and STRIVE to pay $5,000.

Excerpt from:
Case puts N-word use among blacks on trial

Sep 3, 2013 11:45am

A federal jury in New York found that use of the N-word in the workplace is never acceptable, even when used between black coworkers and when the historically fraught word is intended to denote friendship or endearment.

Jurors last week awarded Brandi Johnson $250,000 in compensatory damages after they determined the employment agency worker, who is black, was the subject of harassment after her boss, Rob Carmona, subjected her to a lengthy tirade filled with racial slurs. Carmona is also black.

The court convenes again today to determine whether Johnson should be awarded additional punitive damages.

The case hinged on use of the N-word, a slur with a lengthy history. It is widely considered degrading when used by white people, but is often used without consequence by African Americans.

Johnson argued that Carmonas four-minute n***er tirade in March 2012 was inappropriate and hurtful.

I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed, Johnson testified according to the Associated Press. She said she went into a bathroom and cried for 45 minutes after the incident.

Carmona is the founder of STRIVE, an employment agency that finds jobs primarily for black people with troubled pasts. He said the word has multiple contexts and can denote a meaning of love between black people.

Carmona said he used the words to indicate a close relationship with a friend, putting his arm around the friends shoulder and saying: This is my n***er for 30 years.

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Jury Finds N-Word Never Appropriate, Even Between Blacks

In a case that gave a legal airing to the debate over use of the N-word among blacks, a federal jury has rejected a black manager's argument that it was a term of love and endearment when he aimed it at black employee.

Jurors awarded $30,000 in punitive damages Tuesday after finding last week that the manager's four-minute rant was hostile and discriminatory, and awarding $250,000 in compensatory damages.

The case against Rob Carmona and the employment agency he founded, STRIVE East Harlem, hinged on the what some see as a complex double standard surrounding the word: It's a degrading slur when uttered by whites but can be used at times with impunity among blacks.

But 38-year-old Brandi Johnson told jurors that being black didn't make it any less hurtful when Carmona repeatedly targeted her with the slur during a March 2012 tirade about inappropriate workplace attire and unprofessional behavior.

Johnson, who taped the remarks after her complaints about his verbal abuse were disregarded, said she fled to the restroom and cried for 45 minutes.

"I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed," Johnson testified.

The jury ordered Carmona to pay $25,000 in punitive damages and STRIVE to pay $5,000.

Outside court after her victory, Johnson said she was "very happy" and rejected Carmona's claims from the witness stand Tuesday that the verdict made him realize he needs to "take stock" of how he communicates with people he is trying to help.

"I come from a different time," Carmona said hesitantly, wiping his eyes repeatedly with a cloth.

"So now, now you're sorry?" Johnson said outside court, saying she doubted his sincerity and noting Carmona had refused to apologize to her in court last week. She said he should have been sorry on March 14, 2012, "the day when he told me the N-word eight times."

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$30K in damages in N-word use among blacks case

The Associated Press Brandi Johnson, left, and her lawyer, Marjorie M. Sharpe, leave federal court in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013, after a civil jury awarded $30,000 in punitive damages in addition to the $250,000 in compensatory damages that had been awarded last week. The jury said STRIVE East Harlem, a nonprofit employment organization, must pay $5,000 while one of its founders, Rob Carmona, owes $25,000 in punitive damages after an audio-tape played during a week-long trial showed he launched an N-word laced tirade against Johnson while she worked at STRIVE last year. (AP Photo/Larry Neumeister)

By LARRY NEUMEISTER/Associated Press/September 4, 2013

NEW YORK (AP) The lawyer for a black woman whose hostile workplace claim against a black bosss N-word rant produced a $280,000 jury award says she hopes the case teaches society something.

Its the most offensive word in the English language, attorney Marjorie M. Sharpe said outside federal court in Manhattan after a jury Tuesday added $30,000 in punitive damages to go with a $250,000 compensatory damages award it imposed last week against STRIVE East Harlem and founder Rob Carmona.

Sharpe stood with her client, 38-year-old Brandi Johnson, after a jury of six men and two women determined Carmona owes her $25,000 and STRIVE $5,000 in additional damages in a case that put a legal microscope to the concept that the word that is a degrading slur when spoken by whites can be used without retribution and sometimes affectionately among blacks, even in the workplace.

Sharpe said the double standard had persisted far too long as people have tried to take the sting away from the N-word.

Johnson said she hopes the word now wont be tolerated no matter what your race is.

Carmona, a 61-year-old black man of Puerto Rican descent, had testified at the trial that he was dispensing tough love in language he faced from counselors who turned him from a drug addict with an arrest record into the creator of an often-praised organization that has helped nearly 50,000 hard-to-employ people find work since 1984.

Johnson had recorded the March 2012 tirade about inappropriate workplace attire and unprofessional behavior that was aired for the jury and described by both sides as the trials centerpiece. She said she cried for 45 minutes in the restroom afterward.

I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed, Johnson testified.

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Jury awards $280,000 in NY case over N-word abuse