Area NAACP Accuses Kinko’s of Unfair Tactics

Members of the Ventura County chapter of the NAACP held a rare news conference Monday to protest what they maintain are discriminatory tactics by one of the county’s largest employers.

John R. Hatcher III, president of the NAACP’s 300-member chapter based in Oxnard, has accused Kinko’s Inc. of refusing to do business with companies owned by African Americans.

Harry Alford, president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, and Anthony Robinson, president of Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc., both based in Washington, also attended the conference.

The trio said they support a plan to file a lawsuit against Kinko’s, which specializes in document copying and business services, and has its international headquarters on West Stanley Avenue in Ventura.

“We want to send a clear message to Kinko’s that this is not the kind of behavior we will tolerate,” said Alford, a native of Oxnard. “We refer to this as ‘economic lynching.’ ”

The groups allege that Kinko’s discriminated against a small Las Vegas company, Renaissance Communications Inc., because the telecommunications firm is owned by an African American woman, Monique Linder.

Neither Kinko’s officials nor their Santa Barbara-based attorney, William Degen, could be reached Monday for comment.

Nearly five years ago, Renaissance was awarded a contract to produce long-distance phone cards with the Kinko’s logo. After Renaissance, a company with three employees, spent about $1.5 million to fulfill the contract Kinko’s backed out of the agreement, Alford said.

“They lead them on like they will do business with them, then they throw them away like rubbish,” said Alford, who oversees the 35,000-member international organization. “It’s called a bait-and-switch contract that is often offered to minority firms.”

Stephen Math, Linder’s attorney who is based in Thousand Oaks, said he would file a suit against Kinko’s on behalf of Renaissance if a settlement is not reached by week’s end.

“If we’re not able to resolve the matter in a way acceptable to my client, we will file a suit,” Math said. “We’re asking for all of the money expended by Ms. Linder.”

Alford said his organization will probably follow Linder’s action with a class-action suit against Kinko’s if no settlement is reached.

Hatcher said the local chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People would consider becoming a plaintiff in such a suit.

“While this office is aware of many such cases and has attempted over the years to resolve and mediate this, Kinko’s has generally rebuffed or ignored these efforts,” Hatcher said. “We want to bring Kinko’s into the third millennium--or eject it out of the second millennium.”

Alford said he will return to Ventura if Renaissance files a lawsuit against Kinko’s.

“There’s racism in Ventura County and racism I am quite familiar with,” he said. “It’s time for me to get personally involved.”

Linder, Ventura attorney Laurack D. Bray, who specializes in federal appeals, and the Rev. C. Jessel Strong, pastor of Bethel AME Church in Oxnard, also attended the conference held at Strong’s church.