A former Comcast field sales representative in Palm Beach County, Florida, is suing the cable company for racial harassment and hostile workplace claims, alleging he was fired after complaining about being assigned to dangerous neighborhoods and subjected to mocking comments from white colleagues.
Jerome Jones, who is Black, alleges in his lawsuit filed on June 30 in Palm Beach County Circuit Court that he was a high-performing, door-to-door sales rep at Comcast for seven years, but that he was rankled by repeated racial harassment and unfair treatment by two white supervisors.
Mocked As Low-Rent Cartoon Character
Throughout his employment, which began in April 2018, Jones says his supervisors, Jason Hafer and Doug Bisson, repeatedly referred to him as “Kenny,” the character from the animated TV show “South Park.” Kenny is known for living in poverty, wearing an orange hooded parka, and mumbling — and dying — in every episode.
His white managers also referred to his work group at Comcast as “South Park,” the complaint says. Jones says he found their repeated comments “offensive, humiliating and degrading.” He was also bothered by repeated instructions from Bisson to artificially inflate his field sales activity that was reported to corporate headquarters, including his door-knocking numbers. Jones says he refused to do so and “reported his activity honestly while engaging in legitimate sales.”
The complaint alleges that in August 2025, after Jones attended an event at the West Palm Beach GreenMarket wearing his company uniform and Bob Marley-themed socks, his supervisors exchanged text messages accusing him of being under the influence of drugs and smoking marijuana.
The lawsuit alleges the messages were later shown to Jones and to another Black employee, and that the accusations were rooted in racial stereotypes regarding African-Americans.
‘Hostile’ Sales Territory For Black Reps
Jones says Comcast assigned him and two other Black employees to work in predominantly white neighborhoods that he considered more dangerous than territories assigned to white sales representatives.
The complaint says one territory was approximately 98 percent white. According to the filing, Jones was threatened, chased by unleashed dogs, confronted by hostile people, and, on one occasion, had a firearm pointed at him by a customer who “appeared prepared to use it.”
A newly hired Black female sales rep working in the same “hostile and unsafe territory” was asked by a customer if she would engage in sexual acts with a white male, the complaint says.
After being made aware of the Black employees’ safety concerns, Hafer and Bisson failed to take corrective action, provide safer working conditions, or reassign plaintiff Jones to safer territories, he asserts. Meanwhile, Comcast Cable did not assign white employees to the same dangerous territories.
At one point during his tenure, Hafer appointed Jones to an interim management role while Bisson was out for heart surgery. Jones says that during that time, Hafer praised his leadership abilities, work ethic, and job performance.
But in the spring of 2025, after Jones reported code-of-conduct violations by other sales representatives who were falsifying door-knocking records and sales activity, he says Hafer, who had evidence of their misconduct, gave the employees involved, who were not African-American, opportunities to correct their behavior rather than imposing discipline.
In September 2025, Jones filed a formal human resources complaint raising concerns about discrimination, harassment, bullying and unsafe working conditions. Shortly afterward, the lawsuit alleges, Comcast informed him he was under investigation over $45,000 in commissions he had earned during a three-month period.
Fired Following Discrimination Complaint
Jones alleges the company never interviewed him about the investigation and summarily fired him on Nov. 20, 2025, for a pretextual reason.
The complaint contends that Jones was terminated for “placing two cellular telephone orders on his own account,” which he was unaware violated company policy and corrected immediately once the issue was identified.
He further alleges that Bisson informed him he would seek an exemption from Comcast’s finance department to ensure Jones would not receive commissions on those orders, while Hafer admitted his sales were legitimate and “clean.”
His supervisors never issued Jones discipline, counseling or a written warning regarding the cellular telephone order issue, the complaint says, and didn’t give him a chance to correct the matter before firing him. The lawsuit alleges white employees who committed more serious policy violations were given multiple opportunities to correct their conduct and avoid termination.
Jones says the company’s stated reason for firing him was false and pretextual, and that the real reason he was terminated was because of his race and in retaliation for his complaints over racial discrimination, harassment, code-of-conduct violations, and unsafe working conditions.
Seeking Justice After Alleged Years of Racism and Retaliation
The lawsuit alleges that Comcast subjected him to racial discrimination, a hostile workplace, disparate treatment and unequal working conditions compared to similarly situated non-Black employees, and retaliation, in violation of state law and federal civil rights laws.
He seeks a jury trial to determine compensatory damages for emotional distress, embarrassment and humiliation; and asks the court to either reinstate him in his former position or an equivalent position, or to make him whole by compensating him for lost wages and benefits as well as front pay.
He also seeks unspecified punitive damages and an order that the defendant pay his legal costs.
Comcast’s corporate and Florida regional offices did not immediately respond to Atlanta Black Star’s request for comment about the lawsuit. The company has 20 days after being served with the complaint to file a response in court.
