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Timeline – Chrysler Discriminatory Class-Action Lawsuit

All of the following information is drawn from the class-action complaint filed on February 3, 2002 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. For more information, view the entire complaint.

Mid-January 2001 – Gerald Gorman, the owner of the Marquette dealership and his CFO Shawn Temple meet with the Chrysler Regional Zone Manager, Dealer Sales Manager Don Spaniak and employees Bob Hickey and Dan Howard. At the meeting, the Zone Manager claims that approximately 30 sales contracts, predominantly with African-American or other minority customers, should have never been accepted or purchased by Chrysler. The Zone Manager explains that an employee of Chrysler has been manipulating the ACE System to allow African Americans to get financing from Chrysler and demands that Gorman fire his black employees since they were undoubtedly involved.

The Zone Manager goes on to forcefully question two of Gorman’s employees about how they got the sales contracts approved. Gorman’s employees state that the contracts had simply been submitted to Chrysler through standard procedures and approved. The Zone Manager refuses to believe their statements.

According to the complaint, the Zone Manager uses countless racial slurs and derogatory statements when speaking about the allegedly fraudulent contracts, including “My whole office knows that I don’t buy nigger paper” and “if it weren’t for Rosa Parks those niggers would still be standing in the back of the bus.”

While interviewing Vino Smith, a black sales manager for the Marquette dealership, the Zone Manager exclaims loudly, “that shine is lying,” enraging Smith and bringing a hasty end to the meeting. Before leaving, the Zone Manager suggests reconvening the meeting at Chrysler’s Regional Headquarters in a few days. (par. 72-88)

February 2001 – Gorman and Temple meet with the Zone Manager at Chrysler Regional Headquarters. The Zone Manager demands that Gorman sign full recourse and pay off Chrysler’s end of the financing for the allegedly fraudulent contracts discussed at the earlier meeting. The list of sales contracts had grown from roughly 30 to nearly 60. Gorman reminds the Zone Manager that it was Chrysler’s employee who had been accused of manipulating the computer system and nothing had been proven regarding Gorman’s employees.

The Zone Manager responds ‘that’s why I’ll help you,’ and explains that as part of the full recourse agreement, Chrysler would help collect payments on the sales contracts by providing notice to Gorman if customers are late with the payments.

The Zone Manager threatens to close down Gorman’s dealership unless the full recourse deal is signed, forcing Gorman to assume the losses associated with the sales contracts in question. In closing the meeting, the Zone Manager states “now you can see why I don’t buy [financing for] mulignons.” (par. 89-95)

February 22, 2001 – Cassandra Haynes purchases a vehicle from the Marquette dealership. Despite scoring a 672 on the Empirica program, which corresponds to an A on Chrysler’s ACE system, Haynes is denied financing from Chrysler. She received financing from ICUL Service Corp. at 10 percent over 72 months. (par. 58-60)

Mid-February 2001 – Chrysler begins repossessing vehicles purchased by blacks and other customers from the Marquette dealership and dropping off the vehicles at the Marquette dealership. The number of vehicles targeted for unlawful repossession eventually grows to approximately 70. Contrary to the full recourse agreement signed earlier, Gorman is not provided notice that customers are late in making their payments and is never provided the opportunity to help collect on those payments. More important, the customers were not properly notified of the repossessions nor were they given the opportunity to redeem the vehicles as prescribed by law. Many of the vehicles are repossessed from owners who never missed a payment or were only marginally late with a payment. (par. 96-100)

Early-March 2001 – Gorman and Temple go to the Zone Manager to complain about Chrysler’s improper repossessions and lack of financing support for the Midlothian dealership. The Zone Manager stated, “well, I told you I was not going to buy rats or ‘moolies’ anywhere.”

Gorman suggested there needed to be better communication with Chrysler’s Regional Headquarters in Lisle. In response, the Zone Manager scheduled another meeting with Gorman and other employees from Chrysler’s Regional Headquarters. (par. 101-102)

Mid-March 2001 – Gorman, Temple and several other employees from Gorman’s dealerships meet with the Zone Manager, Spaniak and two other employees from Chrysler’s Regional Headquarters. The Zone Manager began the meeting by explaining in graphic, profane and racially derogatory terms that Chrysler did not want to finance deals from the Midlothian area.

When asked why Chrysler was willing to buy sales contracts and provide financing to minorities at suburban dealerships, the Zone Manager replied, “well, you’ve go to give the nigger a little credit for shopping the suburbs where the washrooms are cleaner and he has a better chance of getting off the lot with his new ride without being killed.”

Several times during the meeting, the Zone Manager’s number two Don Spaniak attempts to interrupt and change the course of the conversation from racist slurs and statements. At one point, the Zone Manager replies, “Don gets really nervous when I talk this way but I don’t care who hears me. Everyone knows how I feel about them, even Detroit. And that’s why my losses are lower than everyone else’s and why I run the most profitable zone in the country.” (par. 103-109)

April 2001 – The beginning of Chrysler’s use of the disabling switch used with Marquette dealership customers (par. 43)

May 2001 – Chrysler makes it mandatory for every Chrysler dealership to use the Automated Credit Evaluation (ACE) System for processing applications for customers financing toward the purchase of a Chrysler vehicle. (par. 28)

June 30, 2001 – Eddie Tobias purchases a vehicle from the Marquette dealership. Despite scoring a 682 on the Empirica program, which is equal to an A on Chrysler’s ACE system, Tobias was denied financing from Chrysler. He received financing from Harris Bank at 12.25 percent over 72 months. (par. 67-69)

November 8, 2001 – Elaine Sims purchases a vehicle from the Marquette dealership. Despite scoring a 681 on the Empirica program, which corresponds to an A grade on Chrysler’s ACE system, Sims was denied financing from Chrysler. Sims secured financing from ICUL Service Corp. at 8.64 percent over 72 months. (par. 64-66)

February 7, 2002 – Vanessa Dampeer purchases a vehicle from the Marquette dealership. Despite scoring a 641 on the Empirica program, which is equal to a creditworthy score of B+ on Chrysler’s ACE system, Dampeer was denied financing from Chrysler. She financed her car through ICUL Service Corp. at 11 percent over 72 months. (par. 55-57)

June 2002 – Gorman and Temple meet with Chrysler Financial Vice President Brad Norman, along with Ben Boggs and two other Chrysler employees to discuss the alleged fraud deals. After listening to Gorman’s complaints about his losses, Norman simply suggests that it would be best to let the lawyers handle those issues.

At one point, Boggs left the meeting for a few minutes, then returned and asked “Well guys, what did we decide to do with Gerry’s nigger deals?” Despite everyone else in the room staring at each other in shock at the glib use of such language in the presence of a Chrysler senior executive, Brad Norman took no notice of the derogatory and racist comment and appeared to be completely unmoved by the remark. (par. 112-116)

June 13, 2002 – Nathan Murray purchases a vehicle from the Marquette dealership. Murray’s mother, Maimie L. Murray, co-signed his loan. Despite scoring a 726 on the Empirica program, which is equal to an A++ score on Chrysler’s ACE system, Murray was denied financing from Chrysler. With Maimie as the co-applicant, Murray received financing from Harris Bank at 9.95 percent over 72 months. (par. 61-63)

June 19, 2002 – Jerrell Coburn purchases a vehicle from the Marquette dealership. Despite scoring a 656 on the Empirica program, which corresponds to an A- on Chrysler’s ACE system, Coburn was denied financing from Chrysler. Coburn received financing from ICUL Service Corp. at 8.75 percent for 72 months. (par. 52-54)

September 2002 – Chrysler completely stops all financing for Gorman’s black customers from the Marquette dealership. (par. 128)

September 18, 2002 – Gorman speaks with two Chrysler vice presidents, Jerry Beverman and Chrysler Financial COO Thomas McAlear. Both vice presidents claim they had never heard anything from Vice President Norman about his meeting with Gorman. (par. 118)

February 3, 2002 – A class-action suit is filed against Chrysler Financial Company, accusing the company of denying credit to customers in the Chicago area based on race, and repossessing vehicles of customers living in predominantly black neighborhoods without justification or proper notification.

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