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Navigating Turbulent Times

LESSONS LEARNED FROM RECENT GERBER FALLOUT

BY ANNA ZECK

In early June, Gerber Collision & Glass was forced to apologize and terminate members of its management team in the Seattle market after racist photos depicting a marketing manager wearing blackface and an afro wig during a virtual conference call were obtained by FenderBender and distributed on Twitter.

The photos depicted the marketing manager and a number of employees, including numerous market managers, during a business meeting with Gerber’s Washington state manager.

In response, Gerber issued the following statement on its Twitter and Facebook:

“Gerber Collision & Glass has taken immediate and decisive action against employees who were involved in a racial incident. An investigation concluded that behaviors of these employees during a virtual meeting in early May were unacceptable and not in keeping with the company’s culture or values. Individuals directly responsible for this incident are no longer employed with us.

“We apologize for the offensive image from a virtual meeting that was posted on social media. We have the obligation to build and support a culture that empowers our people and fosters a sense of belonging, where everyone is respected and supports inclusive thinking, and where we celebrate the diverse voices in our workplace and our communities. While this incident involved a very small number of employees, Gerber Collision & Glass has committed to taking meaningful measures that include training and supporting our entire workforce to become more active in diversity, inclusion and sensitivity in the near future.”

The Boyd Group had diversity and inclusion, along with harassment and antiracism, policies in place.

“It is with extreme sadness and disappointment that we are dealing with this incident. There is no question as a company, that we have zero tolerance for harassment, violence, and discrimination of any kind, including racism. Zero tolerance means that it is completely unacceptable. I can confirm to you that we have taken this seriously and our actions reflect this,” said Tim O’Day, president and CEO of the Boyd Group.

The Boyd Group further outlined the steps the company took to deal with the incident in a statement:

“Our senior leadership team immediately launched a thorough investigation of the incident Wednesday morning (June 10) and concluded that there was a violation of the company’s zero-tolerance policy on race discrimination. In less than 18 hours, the individuals directly responsible for this incident were no longer employed at Gerber,” the statement read.

Gerber declined to provide information or details regarding the individuals involved in the incident.

In order to quickly communicate the issue to the company’s leaders in every market, O’Day conducted a mandatory teleconference call later that afternoon. He informed the team about the incident and, according to the statement, reiterated the organization's zero-tolerance policy.

O’Day concluded the meeting with the following statement: “I am committed to ensuring we, as a company, take the appropriate steps, including investing in additional training for our team, as well as enabling and supporting our team members to become more engaged in changing our local communities.”

The Boyd Group, said O’Day, further addressed this issue and reinforced the company’s commitment to a more inclusive workplace.

“While this incident involved a very small handful of employees in our organization, the Boyd Group is committed to doing more work in this area,” the statement read. “Meaningful measures will include training and supporting our entire workforce to become more active in diversity, inclusion and sensitivity in the immediate future.”

The incident led to other MSOs, including Service King Collision Centers, to issue similar internal memos, and a wider conversation about policies at shops regarding social media use by employees. Many HR experts have recommended instating (and emphasizing) a social media policy, particularly one that notes that, if employees make it known they are employed by your shop, they are not allowed to make inflammatory posts that could reflect negatively on the business.