A Terrebonne Parish man is suing his former employer over claims of unlawful employment practices resulting in his termination.
Kane D. Whitrack filed a complaint Sept. 21 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana against Freedom Well Services LLC, alleging employment discrimination.
According to the complaint, Freedom Well Services first employed Whitrack, an African-American man, on June 7, 2012, as a night shift supervisor in charge of a crew engaged in plugging and abandoning wells. On Oct. 13, 2014, Freedom Well Services terminated Whitrack's employment over claims of poor work performance for cementing up a blender on an offshore location with 23 barrels of cement.
The complaint states that the given reason for termination is false because, as a supervisor, he had no hands-on duties regarding any equipment.
The complaint further states that the incident in question only occurred because the day supervisor failed to inform Whitrack that the day shift had put calcium chloride in the 50-barrel return tank, which should have been noted in the supervisor's report and communicated directly to Whitrack.
Further, after Whitrack was terminated, the next employee in line for his position was a black employee, but rather than promote the qualified black employee, the defendant allegedly promoted an unqualified white employee.
The complaint states the defendant discriminated against Whitrack based on his race.
Whitrack seeks compensatory and punitive damages, back pay, benefits, front pay and attorney fees and court costs. He is represented by Thomas J. Hogan Jr. of Hogan & Hogan in Hammond.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:15-cv-04590-KDE-KWR