DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997              TAG: 9704240421

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   37 lines

EMBATTLED CRUMPLER WILL GET HIS SAY

Bob Crumpler, the Newport News dealer fighting Nissan Motor Corp.'s attempts to pull his franchise, will get a chance to challenge the automaker.

The commissioner of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles has granted Crumpler a hearing to consider whether Nissan has ``good cause'' to terminate his franchise, DMV spokeswoman Jeanne Shenault said Wednesday.

In December, Nissan said it planned to pull Crumpler's franchise after the dealer was secretly videotaped making racial slurs at the mobile home park he owns in James City County. The trailer park manager taped the discussion.

Three months later, five of Crumpler's tenants sued him in federal court, saying he refused to rent to blacks for racial reasons and directed them toward less desirable locations.

Crumpler apologized for his trailer-park comments. But it was too late. Nissan said the damage already had been done.

``Mr. Crumpler has admitted, in his own words, that his conduct was uncalled for and deplorable,'' said Ed Lewis, a Nissan spokesman. ``That, and other circumstances, justify Nissan's decision to seek to terminate its business relationship with him.''

Crumpler did not return a telephone call Wednesday.

After Nissan announced it would yank Crumpler's franchise, the embattled dealer appealed to DMV Commissioner Richard D. Holcomb. The commissioner decided Tuesday to grant Crumpler a hearing.

No hearing date has been set, Shenault said. But the information will be forwarded to a hearing officer from the state Supreme Court. That officer will review the evidence and make a recommendation to the DMV commissioner, who will then make the decision. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

Bob Crumpler

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