Competition Subaru Sued for Race/Color and National Origin Discrimination

NYSDHR CASE NO. 10262435 

On March 2, 2026, The Law Office of David H. Rosenberg, P.C. filed a verified complaint of national origin, color/race (“protected classes”) discrimination and retaliation on behalf of its black Trinidadian client (“Complainant”) against Respondents Matthew Adler (“Adler”, used car manager), Reginald Watkins (“Watkins”, general sales manager), Lovelle Fenico (“Fenico”, business manager), Susan Ferrarotti (“Ferrarotti, Human Resources director”), Michael Macchio (“Macchio”, manager), James Buzzetta Jr. (“Buzzetta”, owner), and Competition Microcars, LLC (“Company” and all together as “Respondents”) an auto dealership validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of New York, located at 601 Middle Country Road, St. James, New York, 11780 (“Premises”). The Company does business as Competition Subaru.

As alleged in the publicly filed verified complaint, Complainant commenced employment as a sales associate on February 21, 2022.  He was well-liked by co-workers and customers. Notwithstanding these positive contributions, Complainant was discriminated against on account of the protected classes and retaliated for opposing discriminatory practices.

As also alleged in the publicly filed verified complaint, starting on or around December 8, 2023, and continuing through his employment, Adler subjected Complainant to a hostile work environment on account of Complainant’s protected classes. At the Premises, Adler would typically repeat what Complainant had said back to him in a dramatically embellished Jamaican accent, and would typically tell Complainant words to the effect of “wah gwaan”; “ya mon”;  “ya”, and  “Kevon Joseph”. Complainant objected to the treatment by typically telling Adler:

1. “I don’t even sound like that.”
2. “I am Trinidadian, not Jamaican.”
3. “Trinidadians don’t sound like that.”
4. “I am not even Jamaican”.
   

According to the publicly filed verified complaint, on or around December 8, 2023, Complainant told male sales associate Diego Espinal (“Espinal”) generally, “OMG, Matt [Adler] makes fun of my accent, and I hate it. He talks to me like I am Jamaican, and I’m not” to which Espinal responded, “Yeah it was crazy”. 

Also, according to the publicly filed verified complaint, starting on or around August 2024 and continuing through Complainant’s employment, Fenico typically greeted Complainant in a Nigerian accent and would say “bring dee plates.” Complainant would oppose the treatment by saying things like “Lovelle, I don’t speak like that, I’m Trinidadian” and “Trinidadian’s don’t talk like that.” 

As alleged in the publicly filed verified complaint, on or around September 22, 2024, Adler told Complainant, in front of Watkins, generally:

“You are three minutes late today for your shift. You didn’t report to me when Nino wasn’t here. Why would you take it upon yourself to leave and go get lunch? Why would you think it is ok to just get in your car and leave the property on your break? You are an adult, and you can do what you want to do, but out of respect, you didn’t come in the morning and say hello to anybody. If I didn’t address you, you would’ve left today without saying goodbye to anybody. You go home for the rest of the day.”

Watkins replied with words to the effect of, “Just admit you are wrong, bow, shake your head, and say yes, Matt [Adler].” Complainant was then sent home in shame in front of the staff on duty that day. Other employees outside of Complainant’s protected classes and those who did not oppose discriminatory practices were not treated this way.

As also alleged in the publicly filed verified complaint, on or around September 29, 2024, Adler told Complainant in front of Watkins, “You need to stop acting like you know everything. You think you’re smarter than everyone here. You’re not a team player. People are watching how you act.” Watkins told Complainant, “Just bow, shake your head, agree to what Matt is saying, and apologize.”  

According to the publicly filed verified complaint, on or around July 19, 2025, after Complainant made approximately 21 work calls, Adler falsely accused Complainant of not making any work calls by screaming, “[Complainant], get to your desk now” at Complainant.  Adler repeatedly screamed to Complainant, “Get to your desk now. Get to your desk now. I’ve been looking at you for over 25 minutes. You’re sitting here, there at the desk, you didn’t make any phone calls, you didn’t do anything?” 

When Complainant informed Adler that he had made approximately 21 or so calls that day, Adler told Complainant to “Go to your desk, shut up,” and to “sit down.” Adler told Complainant generally, “You are lucky that it is me talking to you. You are lucky that Nino did not see you because he is fed up with your behavior, and if left up to me, I’d send you home again.” Ashley Servino, a female co-worker who observed some of the treatment, walked over and asked Complainant, “What’s going on here, are you okay [Complainant]?” Complainant responded, “No, I am not.” (“July 19, 2025 Incident”). 

Other employees outside of Complainant’s protected classes and those who did not oppose discriminatory practices were not treated this way. 

Also, according to the publicly filed verified complaint, on July 22, 2025, Complainant opposed Adler’s discriminatory treatment by complaining to Ferrarotti generally: 

“On July 19, I was at my desk. All of a sudden, I heard Matt scream, ‘[Complainant], get to your desk now’.  I looked up and saw Matt. He repeatedly screamed at me. ‘Get to your desk now. Get to your desk now.’ You can look at the cameras. He screamed, ‘I’ve been looking at you for over 25 minutes. You’re sitting here, you’re sitting there at the desk. You didn’t make any phone calls. You didn’t do anything?’ And then he’s like, shouting, ‘You’re lucky I’m the one that’s seen you doing this. If it was Nino, you wouldn’t want to have Nino tell you something like that.’ And then he says, ‘Nino has been upset with me for my behavior.’ I didn’t know where that came from. And then he’s like, shouting at me.” 

According to the verified complaint, notwithstanding his complaint, no investigation was conducted, no corrective action was given, and no disciplinary action was taken.  On the contrary, Ferrarotti immediately retaliated by trying to gaslight Complainant into believing he – Complainant – was the discriminating party by saying,  “We understand that Matt can be a bit rough around the edges, but that’s just his management style. We don’t want to start a witch hunt or make it seem like we’re targeting any one manager over here.” 

As alleged in the publicly filed verified complaint, on July 31, 2025, Macchio instructed Complainant to attend a one-on-one meeting to discuss Adler’s discriminatory acts and Complainant’s reporting of it to Ferrarotti. At the meeting, Macchio tried to cover up the discrimination and gaslight Complainant into believing there was none, saying words to the effect of: 

“My guess would be that Susan Ferrarotti told you something along the lines of, your manager being an asshole is not illegal, equal opportunity asshole, okay? That’s the term. Being a jerk is not an HR issue per se as long as he is an equal opportunity jerk. Now, it is my job to help him be less of a jerk. I can’t un-jerk everyone completely.  Corrections will absolutely still happen, my commitment is to try to make it like this, you know, behind-the-scenes type of a non-embarrassing, very level-headed type of a correction. It’s the Buzzetta’s name on the front of the building, not Macchio, not [Complainant]. So the way that they want business done is the way that we have to do it.”

Complainant’s attorneys sent a pre-litigation letter request to Respondents notifying them that Complainant had been discriminated against on account of the protected classes and in retaliation for his opposition to it. Complainant was then subjected to more discriminatory hostility and retaliation. 

As also alleged in the verified complaint, on August 20, 2025, Buzzetta, through attorney Christine Staiano, accused Complainant of making “manufactured and unfounded discrimination and retaliation claims; further stated that he had been “treated the same as everyone else at the workplace”; and that “[a]t no time has there been any retaliation.” 

According to the verified complaint, on August 22, 2025, Complainant emailed Buzzetta: 

In response to my claims of discrimination/retaliation, Christine Staiano, your attorney, retaliated against me. She tried to gaslight me into believing that I was crazy and a liar, writing that I was never discriminated against, that all of my claims were “manufactured” and “unfounded”,  that I was always treated “the same as everyone else” at work, and that “At no time has there been any retaliation.” As you know, Ms. Staiano, in retaliation of my discrimination complaint, instructed Human Resources to employ the same retaliatory gaslighting, having HR employee Susan Ferrarotti tell employee Ashley De Pena that ​”maybe he’s like that with everyone ” in response to De Pena’s confirmation that Matt Adler would discriminate against me on account of my Trinidadian origin by typically repeating what I say in a mock Jamaican Caribbean accent at work, saying things like, “Ya mon”; “Wah Gwan”; “Ya”; and  “Kevon Joseph”.

Also, according to the verified complaint, on September 7, 2025, Hispanic female employee Ashely De Pena told Complainant words to the effect of: 

“I just got out of a meeting with Susan [Ferrarotti]. She asked me if I have ever seen Matt make fun of you, of your accent, of your Trinidadian background. And after I told her yes, I had seen such things, Susan tried to talk me out of it and said, ‘Maybe the issue is that Matt just needs help with his management skills, he’s just an asshole, but he’s an asshole like that with everyone, not targeting people.’ I told her, ‘No, Susan, I don’t agree with that, he’s not like that with everyone, I really believe he is a bigot.’”

As alleged in the publicly filed verified complaint, to this date, Complainant remains employed and continues to suffer a hostile work environment on account of the protected classes and in retaliation for his opposition to it. He has asked that all available damages be awarded to him. 

If you or someone you know is suffering at work, contact The Law Office of David H. Rosenberg, P.C. 

Problems at work are no problem for us.

The information and allegations cited herein come directly from publicly filed documentation and are meant as a form of attorney advertising.