Merrill sues to stop racist e-mails

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. has filed suit against a “John Doe” it says sent racist e-mails to black employees and the Rev. Al Sharpton.
The e-mails were sent by someone posing as a manager at the company, Merrill says.
The company suspects that he lives in the Midwest, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The e-mails, which were sent to Merrill brokers in early-to-mid-September, were made to appear that they were sent by a Merrill Lynch Regional Administrative Director using a Hotmail account.
They included a slew of different racial epithets targeting specific Merrill employees.
Merrill said that the e-mails have drawn complaints from some of its black employees, has cast the company employee whose name was used in a negative light and has “injured and caused harm” to the company’s name and reputation.
The lawsuit seeks to stop the e-mails and is seeking unspecified damages.
“The offensive e-mails were sent to a number of our employees by an anonymous sender,” said Merrill Lynch spokesman Mark Herr, in an e-mail.
“We have sued the anonymous sender and will move to subpoena both the [internet service provider] and Microsoft Hotmail for information that would reveal the identity of the sender.”