Former official sues NASCAR

NASCAR has hit the big time. It has been gaining in stature year after year but now it has become a defendant in a $225 million lawsuit.
Mauricia Grant is a 32 year-old Afro-American female and she has filed the suit claiming sexual harassment and racial discrimination. In today’s politically correct world she can’t lose.
Mo, as she was known to everyone in the racing world, was a NASCAR official for about two-and-a-half years, working in the Nationwide series from January 2005 until she was terminated in October 2007. After college, Mo started working in an office environment but decided that was not for her. After training in the Urban League Automotive Training Center in Los Angeles, she interned at Irwindale Speedway. Former L. A. Laker great Magic Johnson was working with NASCAR to bolster racial diversity in its ranks and through his efforts, Mo was hired by NASCAR and became their first African-American female official.
During the first year of her employment, Mo got to know the personnel she would work with and the routine of the tasks she had to perform in officiating a NASCAR race. She had to assist in inspecting the race cars before, during and after a race. Mo seemed to fit in and became one of the guys. Her performance reviews were above average and she seemed to be satisfied with the job to continue on for another year.
In January 2006, Mo was showing her sisters around Daytona. Mo introduced them to some NASCAR officials by saying, ‘Hey, these are my sisters. Do you think we look alike’? Now that’s a loaded question if ever I heard one. The official said something like ‘Well, you both have the same color.’ He blushed and got bright red. When Mo and her sisters got home that night, one of the sisters started an Excel spreadsheet and told Mo to document everything that took place while with NASCAR in order to protect herself. Protect her from what?
It seemed that an idea was born, a plan was formulated, and the documentation was on. Mo claims that during the first year, people started to get a little loose with their language. Those charges were included in the lawsuit, but no specific dates and times were documented. Starting in 2006, Mo started keeping her spreadsheet. This was not like a diary, it was a documentation of the who, what, when, where and why of anything she thought might be useful in her quest. The lawsuit contains 23 specific incidents of alleged sexual harassment and 34 specific incidents of alleged racial and gender discrimination.
Many of the incidents listed in the suit occurred away from the track while socializing. If things were so bad, why did she put herself in a position to become further offended? And why did she stay on for a third year? In her SI interview she indicated that she wanted to change NASCAR from being a ‘good old boys network’ and opening it up to more black drivers, crews, and officials. And of course, more females.
Two of the allegations are quite serious. Mo alleges that two officials exposed themselves to her. If this proves to be true, NASCAR must take the appropriate action. Mo claims to have reported her problems to her superiors but the NASCAR head honchos claim otherwise. If this goes to trial it could turn into a ‘she said, he said’ confrontation. I don’t see this happening. NASCAR does not want the publicity of a long, drawn out trial. They will settle out of court for a lesser sum with the understanding that Mo will keep her mouth shut and just go away. Such is the ‘sue happy’ society we live in today.