Owens, 42, now a reporter for Comcast's CN8 cable news channel, was the first witness to testify in the trial of her race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the $6 billion-a-year television retailing giant.
What Owens learned, said her attorney Alan J. Rich in his opening statement, was "you could be hired as a token and you could be fired because they decided it was time to rotate you out as a token."
QVC attorney H. Robert Fiebach told the jury in his opening statement that race was not a factor in Owens' treatment, shifts or firing. Fiebach said Owens was fired because she failed to move merchandise in what he called "one very tough job."
"Gwen Owens did not have a background in sales," Fiebach added. "This was a new job for her, and not everybody can do sales."
Fiebach said Owens' sales records were evaluated against those of other night-shift hosts, not day-shift personnel: "It was the decision of QVC that she was just not selling."
Owens and three other minority hosts who were fired or quit QVC filed the suit in federal court in New York in December 1998, seeking class action. In addition to less lucrative shifts, the suit claims that minorities were told to use makeup to lighten their complexion while on air, were paid less than whites, and that minority women were paid the least of all.
The suit was later transferred to federal court in Philadelphia, and two additional plaintiffs were added. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Eduardo C. Robreno ruled that the claims of the six should be tried separately rather than as a class.
Owens' case was listed as the first, and the trial is expected to last about three weeks.
In addition to the race discrimination claims, Owens' suit charges QVC officials with retaliation, contending they contacted Comcast officials in 1999 and ruined her chance to become a CN8 anchor.
Contact staff writer Joseph A. Slobodzian at 215-854-2658 or jslobodzian@phillynews.com.
