Kunes Auto Group tied to several racism allegations amid Ole Miss student incident
An Ole Miss student with family ties to Kunes Auto Group was recorded making racist gestures, adding to earlier incidents involving the dealership that have led to lawsuits and employee dismissals.
A Milwaukee-based car dealership group, Kunes Auto Group, has been connected to multiple allegations of racial discrimination since early 2025. The latest case involves 18-year-old Alaina Kunes, a student at the University of Mississippi, who was captured on a Ring camera making gestures that have been described as monkey-like toward an apartment housing several Black students. The university has opened an investigation and the students could face disciplinary measures.
Alaina Kunes is not employed by the dealership, and her father, Scott Kunes, resigned as chief operating officer of the company in February 2025. Their grandfather, Gregg Kunes, founded the auto group, which operates more than a dozen locations in the Milwaukee area.
Earlier incidents include a February 2025 case in Oak Creek where a technician placed a sticker bearing a racial slur on a customer's vehicle; the technician was terminated after the customer, Makayla Starks, reported the act. In April 2026, a salesperson at the Elkhorn dealership sent a Black customer, Carolyn Word, a GIF of a dancing gorilla; the employee was also dismissed following the complaint.
"My actions were insensitive, inappropriate and deeply harmful," Alaina Kunes said in a statement, adding that she had never met the women in the apartment and was unaware of their race.
Alaina Kunes withdrew from the university on November 10, four days after the incident. Civil-rights attorney William Sulton, who represents the Wisconsin victims, filed a federal discrimination lawsuit on behalf of Makayla Starks against the Oak Creek dealership and the unnamed technician.
The series of incidents has prompted scrutiny of Kunes Auto Group's workplace practices and its handling of alleged racist behavior.