Every employee in the workplace deserves to have equal treatment in comparison to his or her colleagues. This treatment should not be any different based on the worker’s sex, age, religion or any other type of discrimination. If a Texas employee notices a disparity at work, he or she has the right, without retaliation, to speak up about the slight. What a worker may not expect in return for speaking out is to be terminated.
A former employee for a paving company claims that he was terminated because he voiced his opinion about discriminating treatment at work. According to his suit, the man’s supervisor used profanity and racial slurs when speaking to him. After reporting the incident, he was sent home and told that he should return to the job the following day.
When the man returned to work the next day, he was allegedly terminated. According to his complaint, the reason why he was fired was because he had walked off the job without permission. However, the plaintiff believes that the reason for his termination was because of his race and because he reported the racial discrimination that was used against him.
The man has now sued his Texas employer on the basis of discrimination and is seeking damages, including litigation fees, compensatory damages and back pay. He also is seeking to be completely reinstated into his previous position without changes to his pay. Other workers who feel that they have been fired because of their race, or because they have spoken out about discrimination in the workplace, have the right to file a claim against their employer. If successful, according to individual circumstances, the worker may be reinstated and receive lost wages as well as other damages.
Source: The Southeast Texas Record, Reynolds & Kay sued over allegations of race discrimination, Whitney Brakken, Feb. 21, 2014
