Lexus Managers Called Vile and Disturbing

"Defendant Miliano escorted Lao to his car, parked next to the general manager's parking space which is adjacent to a ravine and dense shrubs," Lao says in the complaint. "While standing next to the car, Miliano smirked and stated, 'If I cut you up into little pieces and throw you down the ravine, no one will ever find you.' Apprehensively, Lao got into the car and they went to a nearby Jamba Juice store.

"As Miliano drove Lao to Jamba Juice, he said: 'Jeff, you make a lot of money here, right? You would not want to jeopardize this, would you? I will pay you back the money, but do not tell anyone about this,'" according to the complaint.

"Defendant Miliano continued: 'I give people money in the store that I can't turn in vouchers for, like Jenn, so this is why I turned vouchers in on you.' Defendant Miliano then grabbed all of Mr. Lao's wage vouchers, held on to them and shredded them when they got back to the store, then told him to tell Dori Sosa in HR that 'everything was OK.' Lao was extremely distressed and fearful about the Catch-22 situation in which he was placed. He had one choice: to give up his rights to his wages or give up his job. It was illegal and a violation of federal and state laws for defendants to place Lao in this stressful predicament. Miliano's first explanation to Lao for the increased taxes and decreased net income reflected on his pay stub was Obamacare. Then he stated that taxes are always higher in January, February and March."

(Sosa is not a party to the complaint, nor is anyone named Jenn, or Jennifer.)

Lao says he remains unsure of how much extra taxes he's paid because of Miliano's alleged scheme. He describes the process of verifying his bonus vouchers as "like pulling teeth."

Miliano also allegedly threatened to kill Dayekh and his family for his part in exposing the fraud, and James told him that the importance of becoming partner in the dealership trumped handling Miliano, according to the lawsuit.

"James sent sales manager Efrain Moreno to Dayekh's office, requesting to talk," Dayekh says in the complaint. "Dayekh went to James' office with Moreno present. James informed Dayekh that he was going to fire him and asked him to quit voluntarily. Dayekh stated, 'Why do you want me to lie? You are firing me and you want me to sign a statement that you filled out saying I voluntarily quit.' Dayekh continued: 'Enough lies. I will not sign that statement because it is your lie.' Then James demanded that Dayekh sign a statement that he had been paid all the dealership owed him. James then stated, 'The reason why I am letting you go is because I had a complaint about you from a customer.' Dayekh asked, 'What customer?' James responded, 'The Korean guy.' Dayekh replied, 'The Korean customer from about two months ago, and you just remembered that now after two months? Show me the complaint.' James responded, 'I don't have it.' Dayekh said, 'I know why you are firing me, it's because I exposed the theft that you covered for Miliano.'"

(Moreno is not a party to the complaint.)

Dayekh claims that minutes after he was fired, Miliano called him, laughing.

"'How does it feel, you little fucker? Enjoy it, you just got fired, you motherfucker,'" according to the complaint. (89)

Plaintiff Amanda Bo Denton claims that her troubles with Miliano began when he told other salespeople at the dealership that he'd had sex with her, after she had turned him down for a date.

"Denton became aware of the rumor during the second week of October 2013, when she overheard a salesperson discussing it outside of the used car department," Denton says in the complaint. "She confronted Miliano, insisting that he immediately stop the false rumors. Following this incident, Miliano on numerous occasions belligerently screamed and yelled not only at Denton but numerous other employees, telling them 'Pack your shit and leave if you don't like it. My job is to torture you! Get the fuck out of my office.'"

Miliano also took to calling Denton "a fucking cunt" and "fucking bitch," and James did nothing about her woman's complaints, according to the lawsuit.

Plaintiff Christopher Montoya claims James did nothing to protect the employees from Miliano's attacks.

"Miliano singled out Montoya and [plaintiff Wilson] Woo in particular, calling Woo a cyborg, homo, faggot or little bitch," Montoya says in the complaint. "He taunted Montoya and Woo, calling them 'little pecker,' unzipping his pants, sticking his hand in and wiggling his finger through the open front, laughing that they had little penises. He made fun of Montoya because he had five children, belittling him constantly. When Montoya asked James about the shortages in his paycheck, James belligerently responded that it was not his fault that Montoya had so many kids and had to pay high taxes. Miliano called Montoya, who is Mexican-American, a spic, a beaner, faggot, little bitch and other offensive names. This happened virtually every day, and during the last six months of his employment he became so anxious and distraught that he hardly slept at night. He did not want to have sexual relations with his wife, did not play with his kids, but went home from work and went to bed, completely miserable. He dreaded every day and felt humiliated and diminished all the time."

All the plaintiffs report that Miliano regularly referred to people - customers and staff alike - using vile epithets including "fishheads," "cyborgs," "chinks," dog-eaters," "towelheads," "faggots," "homo" "wetbacks," "spics," "cunt," and "bitches."

Plaintiff Francisco Ubaldo, a Dominican-American of African descent, says Miliano upped the ante with him.

"Miliano called Ubaldo 'nigger' on many occasions, and also 'coon,' 'faggot' and 'homo,'" Ubaldo says in the complaint. "In addition, he constantly told Ubaldo that he was too old, that he'd never get another job anywhere, that he was an old geezer, that he could beat him up, and to 'Eat my dickhole.' In all of his years of working, Ubaldo has never been so humiliated and disrespected."

Ubaldo adds that James "condoned and supported every racist, discriminatory and retaliatory act Milano had committed, and it was James' directive that 'I'm here to torture you,'" according to the complaint.

The plaintiffs each seek $10 million in damages and punitive damages on 24 causes of action, including state and federal labor violations, wrongful termination and retaliation, fraud, assault, discrimination, embezzlement, workplace violence and threat of violence, conversion, conspiracy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and loss of consortium.

They are represented by Charles Bonner with Bonner & Bonner in Sausalito, and Karan Gill in Walnut Creek.

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