DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997                 TAG: 9703080572

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   85 lines

BEHIND SCENES, CRUMPLER INCIDENT CONTINUES TO FESTER THE PENINSULA CAR DEALER IS BEING SUED FOR RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, AND COULD STILL LOSE HIS DEALERSHIP

Over the past two months, public outrage has faded over the Peninsula car dealer videotaped using racial epithets at his trailer park.

But privately, the indignation sparked by the secretly taped episode continues to boil.

Bob Crumpler, president of Bob Crumpler's Denbigh Nissan Ltd. in Newport News, has kept a low profile and avoided the media. Since being shown on national TV using racial slurs to describe some African-American employees at his trailer park, the auto dealer has sold his Portsmouth dealership and pulled TV ads featuring him and his son in favor of a written ad thanking customers for their support. Even employees at Crumpler's dealership have shied from comment, only to defend their boss as a ``decent guy.''

Just as quietly, Crumpler's denouncers are sizing him up legally and preparing, if necessary, to fight him in court or before regulators.

Nissan Motor Corp. USA is proceeding with plans to yank Crumpler's Newport News franchise in April and has asked the state's Division of Motor Vehicles to revoke his dealership license. Crumpler sold his Portsmouth dealership voluntarily and negotiated the sale long before the videotape was aired Dec. 6.

As of last week, Crumpler still has not asked the DMV for a hearing to contest Nissan's move against his Newport News dealership, a DMV spokesman said. Crumpler has until April 22 to request a hearing.

Meanwhile a group of tenants at Crumpler's James City County trailer park has sued in federal court, alleging racial discrimination.

Both Crumpler and his lawyer have been unavailable for comment. Revoking a dealership because of moral grounds is rare, and it's unclear whether Crumpler will fight to stay in business.

Auto dealers curiously await the result, wondering if a new legal precedent will emerge. They're worried that a decision nixing Crumpler's dealership agreement will give car manufacturers expanded powers in the future to revoke dealerships based on subjective standards.

``It seems like there continues to be a certain amount of outrage,'' said Nissan spokesman Kurt von Zumwalt, referring to the class-action suit. ``It's just moving along in due process.''

That's precisely what the NAACP maintains. All the actions are being taken in their respective arenas, in court and before the DMV.

The NAACP has little to say because it doesn't want to hurt its investigation into Crumpler's employment and hiring practices - or its chances of a potential lawsuit, said Linda Byrd Harden, executive secretary/CEO of the NAACP Virginia State Conference.

``I don't think the outrage has died down at all,'' Byrd Harden said. ``We don't normally respond when we're in the middle of an investigation.''

The NAACP intends to lobby for state legislation forcing dealerships to look at their policies about fair and equitable employee treatment and hiring, Byrd Harden said. Others are just content to let the subject die.

``We're more involved with running our own businesses,'' said Steve Snyder, president of the Hampton Roads Auto Dealers Association. ``The world goes on like any other market in the U.S.''

Some local dealers suggested that they're less interested in Crumpler's individual situation than the implications of Nissan's actions. They want to know how the manufacturer-dealer franchise relationship will be affected by this case, whether car manufacturers will be allowed to revoke franchises based on something as subjective as how one's reputation is viewed.

Plus, auto dealers may be afraid of being tarred with the same ``racist'' brush with which Crumpler has been painted.

``They're afraid the same thing will happen to them,'' Byrd Harden said, trying to explain why dealers would want to distance themselves from the Crumpler incident.

Right now, state and local dealers are convinced that Nissan will face difficulty in removing Crumpler from its ranks.

``I see it as a typical case of the manufacturer making very bold statements without being aware of Virginia law. We have laws on the books that give dealers protection,'' said Don Hall, president of the Virginia Automobile Dealers Association, a statewide trade group.

Virginia law requires that termination be based on a pattern of behavior or violations, not a single incident, he said. Virginia is considered one of the best states in the country when it comes to protecting dealers' rights.

``Typically it has to deal with your professional life, not your personal life,'' Hall said.

Although it committed some mistakes during this process, Nissan still believes it is doing the right thing.

``There's a right and a wrong in our mind,'' said Nissan's von Zumwalt. ``We're doing all we can. Whether we'll be successful in getting rid of Mr. Crumpler, we don't know. I can't say. We're going to do all we can to terminate the franchise.''

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