Car dealership fires 2 workers after racial slurs were printed on service stickers

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) - A long-running auto dealership in Wichita says two employees have been fired after racial slurs were found to be printed on service stickers.

Rusty Eck Ford confirmed that the situation impacted four customers, each of whom the company has reached out to following the occurrence.

According to the dealership, it opened an investigation after being notified by customers, including Larry Martin, who said he was shocked to see a racial slur on his oil change reminder sticker.

“I looked at it. I double-looked at it, and said, ‘this can’t be real,’” he said. “It felt humiliating.”

The Wichita resident said he discovered that the n-word had been written on the sticker inside his truck.

“I felt embarrassed that someone would say that and put it on my truck,” he said.

On Friday, Rusty Eck Ford said it found two employees connected with what happened and terminated them.

“We identified the Quick Lane employee responsible for entering the offensive language into the sticker system, and his employment was terminated that same day,” the dealership said in a statement.

According to the company, the offensive language was inadvertently left in the system and subsequently appeared on reminder stickers that were printed for the affected customers.

Another employee later discovered and removed the offensive language from the system but failed to report the incident to management.

“That employee is also no longer employed by Rusty Eck Ford,” the dealership said.

The Ford dealership noted that this should have never happened and sincerely apologized to the customers.

“Rusty Eck Ford has been a family-owned business for more than 73 years, and our relationships with our customers, employees, and the Wichita community are extremely important to us. We are deeply disappointed and embarrassed that this occurred,” the company’s statement continued.

Martin’s daughter, Kelsey Martin, said she wants to see the company follow through on their promises.

“I’m just hoping it doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Larry Martin added.