Women decry harassment and toxic culture at St. George auto dealership 

• Derek Carlisle

The following story was reported by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project in partnership with Salt Lake City Weekly.

Charity Ann's nearly decadelong work at the Stephen Wade Auto Center in St. George ended in tears.

When she'd been hired there in 2014 as a receptionist, it started with jokes—though not welcome ones. Stuck at her desk answering the phone, she was immersed in a raucous frat-house vibe from the predominantly male sales staff.

On one occasion, she recalls a salesman pretending to have sex with her desk—in front of her coworkers and even customers.

"There were so many other people there that were OK with it, or didn't say anything," Ann said.

It was enough to make her question herself. "Am I just being oversensitive?" she wondered.

She moved up in the company and became the manager of the Business Development Center at the Toyota store. She maintained the customer relations management system and developed strong relationships with the dealership's customers.

Still, the jokes didn't stop. One salesman would greet her and the women in her department by telling them: "Good morning, ladies, remember, couches pull out, and I do not."

It was constant and grating, she said. In one of the dealership stores, a door sign used to read "Accounting" until someone removed the A, one C and the O, leaving a vulgar word.

In hindsight, Ann's not surprised that things escalated far beyond jokes: the salesman who would follow a receptionist home at night; another who tried to lure a young receptionist to sneak out of her house; a male boss who offered a female subordinate money to send him pictures exposing herself.

• Eric S. Peterson
• The Stephen Wade dealership includes nine locations in St. George.

Ann also said she was not surprised that she was fired after she started advocating for women at the company.

The Utah Investigative Journalism Project spoke with 11 current and former dealership employees about the company's work culture, which all but one described as troublesome, even toxic.

Margaret Ertel, a lead receptionist at the dealership's Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram store said she has not seen anything troubling in her decade of work.

"My managers both have a military background, so if there's a problem they nip it in the bud pretty quick," she said.

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• Eric S. Peterson
• “We’re a family-owned business and do a pretty good job of being boots on the ground.”—Stephen Wade Auto Center CEO Jared Wade

Another employee said harassment problems were not common across the entire company—just at some of its locations. Stephen Wade has nine different stores dominating the south end of St. George, selling everything from Mercedes to used vehicles.

Jared Wade, the dealership's chief operating officer—and nephew to company founder Stephen Wade—said in a recent interview that the company pushes hard against the stigma of other dealerships. It even runs a foundation giving back to Washington County charities.

"We're a family-owned business and do a pretty good job of being boots on the ground," Wade said.

Still, he said problems arise when managing nearly 700 employees. That means disagreements flare up like Ann's, but Wade stated her claims "are without merit" without going into detail.

A Man's World
Ann said she and other female employees were warned at the outset that they worked in "a man's world." She said she was told to go to the bathroom if she needed to cry.

For the women, that meant sticking together as best they could. Ann encouraged another receptionist, "Jessica," to report to a manager when she felt unsafe in 2015. Jessica, who asked her real name not be used out of fear of harassment, also described a toxic work environment.

One salesman began leaving teddy bears and flowers on her car. Then, she said, he started to follow her home from work. She was so scared she would have a friend walk her to her vehicle.

She said that when she reported this to her manager, all he would do was have a talk with the salesman. Eventually, the salesman began sending vulgar text messages to her and propositioning her sexually. With the texts as evidence, he was eventually fired.

"I'm pretty sure they didn't want to do anything until I forced [their] hand with the actual messages he was sending," Jessica said.

Ann said that after the man was fired, she heard a manager warning other salespeople about the reception desk, saying: "Be careful around reception because they like to complain."

"Ellen," who asked that her real name be withheld to protect her privacy, started as a receptionist at the dealership in 2020 when she was 17 years old. One night, she received numerous text messages from one of the dealership's middle-aged salesmen.

He wanted her to sneak out of her parent's house to meet him. When Ellen replied that she would get in trouble, he suggested she lie to her parents: "Say you're going to talk to a girlfriend or something."

His texts were insistent, demanding even. After the third time she had told him that it could wait until tomorrow, he texted: "I want to tonight 'cause no one will be around."

• Eric S. Peterson
• “Receptionists start being social with our sales guys ... sometimes they date, sometimes they don’t date at all, but then the lines become kind of fuzzy.”—Gloria Bertram, human resources manager

Ellen reported the incident to the company's human resources department. In an interview, human resources manager Gloria Bertram said she let the man know that Ellen was not interested.

In Bertram's experience, receptionists can bring this attention upon themselves. "Receptionists start being social with our sales guys, inside and outside of work they start interacting, sometimes they date, sometimes they don't date at all, but then the lines become kind of fuzzy," Bertram said.

Bertram said she will tell salesmen to leave receptionists alone. "And if they don't understand," she said, "they will lose their job."

The sales manager in Ellen's case was not fired. Bertram said he did experience consequences but she declined to discuss them.

Ellen said the man was suspended for two days on a weekend and back to work the following Monday.

"You don't change, especially if you just get a slap on the wrist," Ellen said.

Bets Between Friends
"Marcia" was only one of a handful of female sales employees at the company. She too asked her real name be withheld to protect her safety.

Work was good at first, Marcia said, and she started playing golf with her boss after hours. It was a friendship that seemed innocent enough to Marcia, until it suddenly wasn't.

Before Marcia was to leave on a trip to Las Vegas, Marcia said her manager told her he would pay her money for all the liquor she drank. He would also pay her if she kissed any men on her trip or slept with them—but she had to send pictures as proof. These were supposedly friendly "bets."

Marcia was beyond uncomfortable. Later before taking another trip to New York City, she recounted, her supervisor suggested she expose her breasts in Times Square and send him a picture as proof so he could pay her.

Marcia did none of that, but after the latest "bet," she went to HR.

The manager called Marcia into his office the next day and wept, telling her that he felt he deserved a third chance, she said. Marcia described the tears as manipulative. She said her manager had told his wife about the incident and that his wife had told him he was too "friendly" with people. Marcia didn't buy it.

"I can't think of any wife who would hear that their husband is telling their employees to kiss and have sex and send pictures for money and would be like 'Yeah, you can't be so friendly with everyone you know,'" she said.

In the end, the man was suspended briefly before being brought back on the job, she said. Marcia eventually was so frustrated with how it turned out that she quit at the end of 2022.

Wade, the dealership CEO, got involved because he didn't want Marcia to quit. But the company ultimately concluded the relationship was "consensual." Wade said a variety of solutions were offered, including moving Marcia to a different position, but that didn't satisfy her.

"We asked her point blank, because it was the two of them together, 'Do you feel safe? Should we fire this individual?' Her answer was 'no.'"

For Marcia, the "compromise" offered her was a move back into business development, a significant demotion from sales. And, as for asking what to do about her boss, she felt she was put in an impossible position when that was not her decision to make.

Ann would shortly thereafter be put in the exact same position.

Bad Precedents
In the fall of 2021, Charity Ann reported to HR about a recent encounter in the Toyota building with a salesman who had previously been fired for undisclosed sexual harassment allegations and then rehired several months later.

Ann was one of few employees to speak out against rehiring him and brought forward complaints against him on behalf of other female employees.

Ann said the salesman said to her, loudly across a crowded showroom, that: "Your knees are dirty, but don't worry—everybody knows why." She reported the demeaning comment to HR and was also later asked by Wade if she wanted the salesman fired.

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• Eric S. Peterson
• “If I say, ‘Keep him employed,’ then it looks like it wasn’t a big deal. Or if I say, ‘Fire him,’ then I look like a vindictive bitch.”—former employee Charity Ann

"If I say, 'Keep him employed,' then it looks like it wasn't a big deal. "Or if I say, 'Fire him,' then I look like a vindictive bitch," Ann said.

She said he should be fired.

Cheryl Thompson is the founder and CEO of the Center for Automotive Diversity, Inclusion & Advancement and worked 30 years in the automotive industry. Her organization provides training for industry groups on equitable workplaces.

When asked if it was appropriate for victims of harassment to be asked if a harasser should be fired her response was: "Hell, no. We should never put that responsibility on the person being harassed."

The company "should have a solid HR policy in place and there should be zero tolerance and that should be communicated ahead of time so people understand expectations," Thompson said. "If a person is not fired for crossing the line, it just sets a bad precedent, and everyone else feels like they can get away with it."

Ann said the salesman was suspended and then brought back to work within weeks. Ann tried to move on, and she said the grudge between her and the salesman had calmed down over the course of the following year.

It was in late 2022 that she went on a few dates with a coworker. And while this was not uncommon at the company, it resulted in her being fired in January 2023.

She was told she was terminated for an inappropriate relationship and for providing the salesman she dated with company sales leads. She denied the allegations of favoritism.

Wade acknowledged in an interview that inter-office dating happens a lot with so many employees. When that happens, he said, a couple will "be moved to a different store" to avoid negative perceptions.

For Ann, the relationship meant a termination. And providing sales leads to the coworker she dated? She said that could easily be verified by checking the computer database, but that evidence was never provided to her.

'Persistence Breaks Down Resistance'
"Helen," another former employee, worked in a dealership office in 2018, where she said her supervisor—a man in his 50s—would swat female employees on their buttocks without warning and then rationalize it by explaining that he used to be an athletics coach. Helen and other women reported this behavior to human resources.

"He got suspended for like two weeks, but then he came back with a vengeance," Helen said.

The man was more verbally abusive than ever, telling Helen she was "fat" and "easily replaceable." She quit because of the treatment.

"Nancy" is another former employee, who spoke on condition her name be withheld to protect her privacy. She noted how complaints would go unheeded, such as those against former salesman Roderico Armando Garcia-Rodriguez.

Ann recalled an occasion when Garcia-Rodriguez sat uncomfortably close to her on a couch and told her "persistence breaks down resistance," in front of a manager. She said the manager just made a joke about it.

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• WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
• A employee said her complaints about coworker Roderico Armando Garcia-Rodriguez went unheard. He was later of a sexual assault outside the workplace.

"[He] was actively bothering staff, and it didn't end until he was brought to local court," Nancy said, on an assault charge that took place outside of work.

In June of 2022, Garcia-Rodriguez was charged with forcible sexual assault after driving a woman home from a date and assaulting her. He groped and bit the woman and told her "this is how it feels to be dominated," according to court documents. He was convicted and later deported.

Bertram was unsure if Garcia-Rodriguez had complaints from other employees in his file but said she would check. She never responded to follow-ups about complaints against him. Wade noted that his crime happened outside of work. "This allegation had nothing to do with our business," Wade said.

Ultimately, Wade said, the company works hard to defend its reputation and treats its employees and customers well.

"We don't do a lot of third-party sales like KSL, it's all word of mouth, so yes, it is very important that we have a good reputation," Wade said.

Alexis Jones was one customer, however, who said she faced harassment from a salesman when she and her husband bought a car in January.

Jones said the salesman made inappropriate remarks in front of her husband, then texted her repeatedly after the car was sold, even inviting her by text to come over to his place for a "beer, massage and a hot dog."

The couple returned the vehicle and complained, but she said a manager angrily denied the allegations. "There's already a stigma that women get treated differently at dealerships," Jones said. "I never imagined that would happen going into it, definitely not when my husband was sitting there."

Wade argues the company is welcoming and rewarding to female employees.

"We wouldn't have a [Business Development Center] manager for our No. 1 and No. 2 stores be girls, that started as receptionists, if we didn't treat women right," he said.

Charity Ann was one of those former success stories who went from answering calls to giving orders. But she bristles at the claim that this is proof that the company treats women right.

"Me being vocal about sexual harassment was pivotal to me being fired," she said.

And yet she felt it had to be done, pointing to a 2017 survey in which 65% of women in the auto industry reported having received unwanted sexual advances.

"I want women to be comfortable speaking up and knowing that there are people listening," she said.

For her, that means Stephen Wade also has to change.

"Instead of punishing the women, punish the people who are actually the problem," Ann said.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the familial relationship between CEO Jared Wade and his uncle, dealership founder Stephen Wade.