A longtime Kunes Auto Group customer says a salesman at the company’s Elkhorn store sent her a string of animal GIFs that crossed the line from cheesy to deeply offensive, and the fallout has now cost that employee his job. Carolyn Word, who says she has bought four cars from the dealership, told reporters the March 25 exchange left her feeling "humiliated, furious and violated," and she has hired civil rights attorney William Sulton. The dustup comes as Kunes is already under scrutiny over a similar racial incident at another nearby location last year.
What the customer says
Word says the texts started on March 25 with what looked like awkward small talk: a salesman sent a GIF of a waving bear with the caption "is this Carolyn?" Things escalated quickly. While she was on the phone with a manager, she says, the salesman followed up with a GIF of a dancing ape in a bathing suit.
Word told reporters she texted back that the messages were an insult and that she planned to report the salesman. She also says the manager she spoke with did not immediately follow up with an apology, which only added to her anger.
After Word went public with the texts and retained an attorney, she says the dealership finally called to apologize and told her the employee who sent the image was no longer with the company, according to TMJ4.
Dealer response and company background
On its local site, Kunes highlights that it operates more than 40 stores across the Midwest and employs more than 2,000 associates. The dealership tells customers with unresolved complaints to contact a dedicated customer experience line and says it is taking action across its organization to ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
The company has been here before. In early 2025, a Milwaukee area customer found a racial slur written on an oil change sticker at a Kunes location in Oak Creek, an incident that sparked protests and led to at least one employee being fired, according to Kunes Chevrolet GMC of Elkhorn.
Calls for training and accountability
Word and her attorney say they are not satisfied with a single firing and a phone call. They want Kunes to require anti racism training for all employees and to spell out how internal investigations and discipline actually work when customers complain.
Sulton has argued that the company needs to retrain staff to prevent this kind of behavior from repeating and has criticized what he describes as a lack of follow through in handling Word’s complaint.
Mike Kunes, the family’s regional manager, told the station that the incident was "disgusting," said the company had jumped to action, and confirmed that the employee is no longer with the company, as reported by TMJ4.
Legal angle
Sulton says he is still reviewing legal options in Word’s case. In the earlier Oak Creek incident, he publicly called for more transparency from the dealership and argued that the company could be held vicariously liable for employees’ actions, comments that were covered by local outlets.
That Oak Creek episode, combined with the new Elkhorn text exchange, has community advocates watching the chain’s next moves closely as customers press for clearer policies and mandatory training, according to FOX6.
