The Stone Mountain Management Corporation, based in Short Hills, N.J., is the subject of a class action suit filed Sept. 12 with the Superior Court of New Jersey in Essex County by labor lawyer Herbert J. Tan, also a Filipino-American, on behalf of his clients Helen Castillo, Felimon Maglague, Menandro Malonzo, Orlando Zuniga and Teresita Bagay.

Except for Malonzo, who is from Millburn Township, N.J., all plaintiffs are from Jersey City.

Also named as defendants are Faye Slep, managerial and supervisory agent at Stone Mountain; Ceyan Birney, owner, manager and supervisory agent; and 12 John Does, who are all employees at the company.

One of the complainants, Castillo, is the current overall chairperson of the Philippine-American Friendship Committee (PAFCOM), the largest umbrella organization of Filipino-American associations in New Jersey and tasked with organizing the largest annual parade and festivities of Filipinos in the state to celebrate the July 4 Philippine-American Friendship Day.

According to the lawsuit, Stone Mountain “began a systematic elimination of all its Filipino employees” through “a pattern and practice of national origin and/or race discrimination utilized by the defendants.”

When the corporation hired Faye Slep in March 2005 as an efficiency expert and office manager, the lawsuit says Slep told several employees that she is going to get rid of “the Filipino empire.”

In April 2005, Menandro Malonzo, the maintenance manager, was terminated.

Following Malonzo’s termination, Castillo, the leasing agent for the corporation, complained to Birney about what she believed to be discriminatory acts on the part of Slep, the suit states, but Birney took no remedial actions to the complaint.

That same period, Slep began attempting to frame Castillo as stealing the corporation’s property, and solicited employees to make false statements against Castillo, the suit claims.

Tan said one female Hispanic employee, who was fired after refusing to give a false statement, came forward to testify in court.

On April 20, 2005, Slep reportedly hired a private investigator to probe into Castillo’s life, the suit says. Castillo again complained to Birney, but her pleas again fell on deaf ears, the suit claims.

In May 2005, Slep replaced Zuniga, the Filipino superintendent at the corporation’s South Orange property, with a Caucasian, the suit says.

Slep reportedly told Castillo that, “These are the type of people you should hire,” referring to the Caucasian. “I don’t know why you are hiring these people. You made a mistake hiring Filipinos.”

On May 7, 2005, Slep then terminated Maglague, a porter, “for following the orders of his manager, Rafael Chiu, in moving a refrigerator,” the suits states. Maglague was also replaced by a Caucasian, according to the lawsuit.

On May 14, 2005, the suit says Castillo was contacted by Birney’s wife and was told Stone Mountain Management “would not afford to pay her position and that she would be terminated.”

Mrs. Birney also told Castillo, “You hired Filipinos and you are all thieves,” the suit says.

In the complaint, Castillo claims she was subjected to a hostile work environment and eventually terminated in retaliation for her complaining about discrimination conduct.

Bagay, who first was first to be terminated in September 2004, joined the class action suit. Bagay “was simply asked by the company not to return to work” despite the absence of any misconduct, Tan said.

The complainants are seeking punitive and compensatory damages and attorney’s fees, among other things.

Stone Mountain Management Corporation did not return calls for comment.