BATON ROUGE – An African-American man alleges he was denied promotions he was qualified for because of his race.
Sylvester M. Platt filed a complaint on Nov. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury alleging that the municipal government body violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff alleges that during the course of his 21 years of employment with defendant, he was subjected to unlawful and continuing discrimination from the denial of promotions for which he was qualified. The plaintiff holds Pointe Coupee Parish Police Jury responsible because the defendant allegedly discriminated and retaliated against him because of his race/color and because of his complaints about such unlawful discrimination and retaliation, and hired or promoted white persons with lesser qualifications.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks an order directing defendant to place him in the highest position he would have occupied, award for damages, plus interest, costs for this action and all other relief that are just and proper. He is represented by Nelson Dan Taylor Sr. of J.K. Haynes Legal Defense Fund in Thibodaux.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana Case number 3:16-cv-00764