Originally Posted by
aktchi
Does anybody here understand how this settlement is supposed to help the alleged victims, individually or as a group?
B&H did not admit wrongdoing, so they wont change anything. I am not sure if the government is committed to using the $3.22M it got to help those victims. So in the end the money will just disappear in the vast government coffers?
OTOH, good call on B&H's part. If I was targeted by a powerful gang alleging some wrongdoing on my part, I'd most likely "settle" too.
From the PetaPixel link:
"B&H serves as a federal contractor and the U.S. Government responded to allegations to ensure that taxpayer money is going to a business that treats its employees fairly.
In addition to paying $3,220,000 in back wages and monetary relief to over 1,300 workers involved in the settlement, B&H will also be hiring a workplace consultant to correct employment practices at its current Brooklyn warehouse and future New Jersey warehouse. Managers will also be receiving annual training on harassment prevention and equal opportunity principles."
I believe I have posted before that I bought my first camera from B&H in the early 80's when I was 12 or 13. This was at a time when B&H was pretty much the only honest mail order house in NYC as Adorama [under previous ownership/management] and most of the rest were all bait-and-switch clip joints.
The late, great Herbert Keppler then instituted Modern Photography's honesty and integrity seal of approval program and stopped selling ad space to those companies that didn't change their practices and comply.
One could buy a well equipped Honda Accord with what I have spent with B&H in the 30+ years since that first camera.
I am, what is the right word, saddened, disappointed by this and the other recent lawsuit[s]. But I am hopeful that going forward things will change for the better. With nearly all the great local camera stores gone [even Keeble and Shuchat went out of business for crissakes], God help all photographers when Best Buy or Walmart or Amazon Marketplace are the only places left to buy photo equipment and supplies.