FOR CALLING WORKER "N*GGER" REPEATEDLY BLACK EMPLOYMENT AGENCY BOSS LOSES $280K IN COURT BATTLE

ROB CARMONA

Hostile use of the N-word in the workplace is always offensive and discriminatory — even when an African-American utters it, according to a Manhattan federal jury.
The panel rejected arguments from lawyers for a black Harlem employment-agency boss that it was OK for him to use the hateful slur — and ordered him and his company to cough up $280,000 to a female worker of the same race who was subjected to his tirade.

Single mom Brandie Johnson won compensatory and punitive damages in her suit against STRIVE East Harlem President Rob Carmona, 61, for repeated verbal abuse — including a March 2012 rant she caught on tape.

“I was offended. I was hurt. I felt degraded. I felt disrespected. I was embarrassed,” Johnson, 38, testified about what her lawyer called a “four-minute n----r tirade” over her on-the-job conduct and attire.

“Both of you are n----rs . . . You all act like n----rs all the time . . . and n----rs let their feelings rule them,” Carmona said in an outburst that targeted Johnson and an unidentified worker.

BRANDIE JOHNSON

Her lawyer, Marjorie M. Sharpe, told the jury — which consisted of eight whites, one black and one other dark-skinned man — that the pair’s race made no difference.

“When you use the word n----r to an African-American, no matter how many alternative definitions that you may try to substitute with the word n----r, that is no different than calling a Hispanic by the worst possible word you can call a Hispanic, calling a homosexual male the worst possible word that you can call a homosexual male,” Sharpe said in her closing argument.

The case focused on what many see as a double standard over the N-word — that it’s racist if uttered by whites but culturally acceptable when used by blacks in music or when speaking to one another.

Johnson testified that being black made it no less painful to be subjected to Carmona’s vile taunts.

Carmona blubbered like a baby in Manhattan federal court yesterday as he tried to defend his use of the N-word during the punitive- damages phase of the case.

“I come from a different time . . . and this showed me that I really have to take stock of that at my age ,” he said, wiping his eyes.

Defense attorney Diane Krebs argued that Carmona, who had a troubled life before getting a master’s degree from Columbia and starting STRIVE, had a different take on the word.

Carmona testified that he might say, “This is my n----r for 30 years” to a pal. “That means my boy, I love him, or whatever,” he said.

But Johnson, who was fired after filing the June 2012 lawsuit following more than two years with the firm, said, “No one deserves to be treated like that. I was bullied, disrespected.”

A spokesperson for STRIVE said that the company was “disappointed by the verdict” and was considering an appeal.