Nissan to Cancel Franchise Over Slur

Nissan Motor Corp. said it will yank its franchise from a car dealer who was secretly videotaped using racial slurs, a spokesman said. The auto maker sent a letter by certified mail notifying Bob Crumpler that the company will terminate his franchise. Crumpler will have 90 days to challenge Nissan’s decision. In a videotape made three months ago, Crumpler referred to a black worker with a racial epithet while he berated the worker’s white supervisor, Nissan said. The company said it had tried to counsel Crumpler several times in the last couple of years for his behavior. Crumpler, who has Nissan dealerships in Portsmouth and Newport News, Va., declined to comment. In a related development, Garden City, N.Y.-based Avis Rent A Car Inc. said it wants to take away the franchise of an owner who is accused of refusing to rent cars to blacks. The company asked a federal judge to stop John Dalton from running his New Hanover, N.C., franchise until a racial bias lawsuit against him is decided. Last month, three black women sued Dalton and Avis, the nation’s second-largest rental car company, saying Dalton told employees at franchises in North and South Carolina to avoid renting cars to black customers. Dalton’s attorney, Frank Ward, said his client has never refused to rent to anyone because of their race.