Life and health insurance provider Globe Life and its subsidiaries, including American Income Life (AIL), are facing serious allegations of racial discrimination and harassment.
A Business Insider investigation revealed evidence of racism from Globe’s Texas headquarters to its agencies nationwide.
Racism Among Senior Managers
Business Insider obtained screenshots that revealed senior managers at AIL exchanged racist, sexist, and transphobic texts between 2014 and 2019.
Domenico Bertini, a former AIL vice president, sent a meme depicting a Black man in a mousetrap baited with Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Other texts included the n-word and targeted Black and Mexican people. James “Bo” E. Gentile, another executive, shared a meme mocking Black fathers.
Fried chicken jokes, the n-word, and harassment
Current and former employees also reported widespread racial harassment at Globe and its subsidiaries.
Silvana Pajor Flores, an Argentina-born woman, sued AIL in 2016, claiming managers and coworkers frequently told her she was “too fucking Mexican.”
A Black former manager, Raynaldo Lafontant, filed a complaint alleging his boss played rap music containing the n-word during meetings, while another suggested he cut his dreadlocks to improve sales.
Atiya Bell, a former employee, reported that her white male boss, Morgan Lobello, sent her a meme using a racial slur and constantly made racial jokes about Popeye’s chicken sandwich.
Bell’s civil complaint says her colleagues “openly traded in egregious racial epithets and stereotypes” and that the company “tolerated and perpetuated an atmosphere pervaded by sexual and racial harassment.”
Similarly, Sarah Reay, a Latina woman in West Virginia, reported that colleagues regularly used the n-word. She filed a complaint with the EEOC, reporting incidents of sexual harassment and assault.
Several agents of color filed complaints alleging they were assigned to unprofitable areas, with one reportedly being told she would make more sales if she had “blonde hair and blue eyes.”
Employees allege that complaints were often ignored.
Systemic Issues
Workers at Globe, AIL, and the Arias Organization—one of AIL’s top sales agencies—also reported a culture of rampant harassment, violence, drug use, and customer abuse. These issues prompted Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to sell all its shares in the company.
Globe’s stock plunged by 53% on April 11 after Fuzzy Panda Research published a report with further allegations of customer fraud, drug use, violence, and sexual assault at the company.
Globe Life responded, expressing confidence in its ethical standards and accountability systems.
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