Two former employees of Benchmark Education Co. have accused the New Rochelle textbook publisher of discriminating against white employees.
Chad Paperman and Anna Masoutis claim that Benchmark owners Thomas and Seraphim Reycraft of Pelham Manor made their jobs so intolerable after they complained about discriminatory practices that they had to quit, in complaints filed Nov. 22 and Nov. 24 in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
Benchmark did not respond to an email asking for its side of the story.
Paperman, a white man who lives in Yorktown Heights, was hired in 2011 as a regional sales manager.
He traces the troubles to 2018 when he complained about not receiving more compensation for taking on additional duties as sales director of an affiliate company.
A Latin American female manager allegedly told him that upper management described him as a complainer and a liar, and she commented about needing “more color” on the team.
Paperman claims that Seraphim Reycraft, an Asian female, gave employees a handbook titled “Speaking English Like a Round Eye,” that stereotypes white Americans and is “filled with numerous racial slurs.”
In 2019, his sales commission plan was made effective for only four months, according to the complaint. He was excluded from company meetings and from social events with Latino customers and organizations. His desk was moved to a storage area. His parking pass was taken away.
He left the company on Jan. 31, 2020.
Masoutis, a white woman from Bayside, Queens, was hired in 2012 as a regional sales manager.
In 2018, she complained to the director of business development, William Reycraft, that Paperman was making more money for the same work and responsibilities. Reycraft allegedly responded that the pay gap was reasonable because Paperman was married and had kids to support, while Masoutis was a single individual.
Masoutis says she was stripped of her job title and responsibilities in January 2020. She also cited the “Speaking English Like a Round Eye” handbook, and claims that her desk was moved to the storage area, her parking pass was taken away and she was excluded from meetings and events. She quit on the same day as Paperman.
Instead of investigating their complaints, Paperman and Masoutis say, the company retaliated. They accused Benchmark and the Reycrafts of discrimination on the basis of race or color or sex, under federal and state laws. Masoutis also cites federal and state Equal Pay Acts.
They are demanding back pay and unspecified damages.
Benchmark and Thomas Reycraft were also accused this past June of age discrimination.
William Lawlor, former director of marketing operations, says he was abruptly fired last year the day after his 65th birthday. His separation was depicted as a retirement, according to the complaint filed in federal court, and then as downsizing, despite being replaced with a new employee.
Benchmark and Thomas Reycraft broadly denied the accusation in their formal answer to the complaint.
Attorneys Christopher J. Berlingieri and Melissa A. Rodriguez represent Paperman and Masoutis. Robert L. Levy and Sherie N. Buell represent Lawlor. Sean A. Malley represents Benchmark and Thomas Reycraft in the Lawlor case.
