Rent-A-Center Charged With Failing To Prevent Racially Hostile Conduct In Two NJ Stores

NEW JERSEY (CBS) -- Rent-A-Center, a national retail chain, is being charged with failing to prevent racially hostile conduct in two stores in Pennsauken, New Jersey.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Division on Civil Rights has filed a complaint against Rent-A-Center in State Superior Court.

Craig Sashihara, director of the division, explains the charges.

"The state alleges an assistant manager, who is not black, routinely used racial slurs in reference to black employees and that the company's response was to simply transfer the manager to another store about ten minutes away, where she continued to harass employees based on race," he said.

The assistant manager, Christina Martinez, allegedly used the n-word, along with other offensive epithets, when talking to and about employees. The behavior took place in December 2014. The complaint seeks compensation for the employees and civil penalties for every count against the company.