A St. Tammany Parish resident is suing her employer, a Mandeville food corporation, alleging discrimination in regard to a workplace suspension in 2014 which the plaintiff claims was racially motivated.
Deondra Wright sued Ponchartrain Foods Inc. in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana on Aug. 21 alleging unlawful employment practice in December 2014.
According to the complaint, Wright, an African-American, was hired by the defendant on Nov. 10, 2014, as a cashier at a rate of $7.50 an hour, suspended for five days on Dec. 31, 2014, and fired on Feb. 9, 2015.
The suit states that white employees who engaged in conduct similar to hers were not disciplined or discharged. She charges Ponchartrain with violation of title VII, because “the plaintiff was in the protected group, was qualified to do, and was doing the work in a satisfactory manner, was terminated, and defendant was motivated by illegal discrimination because of race.”
Seeking injunctive action for a return to employment, the plaintiff claims that she is entitled to general, special and compensatory damages in an amount in excess of $10,000, back pay, benefits, reinstatement, front pay, reasonable attorney’s fees, pre-judgment interest, expenses, and court costs. The plaintiff is represented by Thomas J. Hogan Jr. of Hogan & Hogan in Hammond.
U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-03683-LMA-DEK