EX-WARD'S PERSONNEL CHIEF SUED

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 24, 1993                   TAG: 9302240371
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short
EX-WARD'S PERSONNEL CHIEF SUED
A former employee of a Roanoke department store has filed a lawsuit that accuses its personnel manager of subjecting him to threats and racial comments.
James R. Hunter made the allegations against Gary Lowe, former personnel manager of the Montgomery Ward store at Valley View Mall, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Roanoke Circuit Court.
Lowe no longer works for the store and has moved out of state, officials said. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Hunter was employed as a floor salesman last February when he was called into Lowe's office, according to the lawsuit.
After telling Hunter, who is black, that he was to be suspended from his job, Lowe then made racial slurs and threatened to assault him, the suit alleges.
He then summoned a security guard to escort Hunter from the store. The suit accuses Lowe of making defamatory statements, threatening and humiliating Hunter. The suit asks for $50,000 in damages.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB