Car salesman Gary Barbera was accused of being ageist. ‘Boy, I guess,’ says jury.

A dealership associated with prominent car salesman Gary Barbera will have to pay $625,000 to a former manager who accused Barbera of creating a hostile work environment, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

Michael Burgo alleged that Barbera, the face of Boulevard Autogroup who recruited him in 2018, harassed him with ageist remarks like “Young people want it more” and “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Burgo was 65 years old when he was hired, and Gary Barbera was 53.

Burgo also alleged that Barbera yelled or screamed at him and banged on his chest during a couple of their interactions in his last months on the job. And in June 2020, Burgo alleged, Barbera shouted at Burgo during a team meeting for being unable to recall the vacation plans of a direct report, then fired him.

Lawyers for Boulevard Autogroup argued that Burgo quit his job. They said that he was not fired at that meeting, but walked out “after being properly criticized for his failure to accept or employ technically available administrative thoroughness.”

The dealership’s lawyers acknowledged in court documents that Barbera had “chided” Burgo with the phrase “old dog and new tricks.” They said this was not a reference to Burgo’s age but to his “set ways and his limited use of available technology” during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when the dealership was trying to use new ways of reaching out to customers amid mandatory closures. Burgo never complained about age discrimination to human resources, Boulevard’s lawyers said.

Multiple witnesses at trial testified that Burgo walked off the job, according to his lawyer, Brian Farrell. He said the jury did not find that Burgo was fired because of his age but decided that the work environment was hostile.

“We are pleased with the jury’s decision and happy for our client,” said Farrell, who represented Burgo with co-counsel Bill Rieser.

Gary Barbera was not an owner of Boulevard Autogroup, lawyers for the business emphasized in court documents, but he was the “marketing ‘face’ of the dealership” and assisted in staff recruiting. Barbera’s brother, Eugene Barbera, became the majority owner of Boulevard, also known as Barbera Autoland, in 2018, the defense said. (The dealership was previously owned by Gary Barbera Enterprises, Burgo’s court records explained, which was an entity mostly owned by Gary Barbera.)

Boulevard Autogroup’s lawyer, Alan B. Epstein, said that the case had a “weird” result and that he will be filing post-trial motions. He took on the case because he thought the claims were frivolous, he added.

“It was a very, very strange resolution by the jury who chastised Boulevard for harassing this guy, when the only harassment that took place was at a couple meetings after the pandemic hit,” Epstein said.

Gary Barbera previously faced federal charges on filing false tax returns and was sentenced to three years’ probation in 2010. Burgo’s lawyers were allowed to use that information in the employment trial as an argument against Barbera’s credibility as a witness.