NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana recently dismissed a wrongful termination lawsuit filed against Apache Industrial Services.
In its Dec. 26 ruling, the court granted Apache Industrial's a motion to dismiss the suit filed by former employee Geraldine Dunn claiming she was wrongfully terminated, discriminated against and retaliated against by company employees.
The court said Dunn's complaint didn't contain "sufficient facts" to state that she "properly exhausted her administrative remedies by first filing an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charge asserting allegations of age discrimination."
The court added that Dunn failed to "allege any facts showing that she was discriminated against because of her race."
Apache, a foreign corporation with its principal place of business in Texas, filed the motion to dismiss in April for failure to state a claim in lieu of an answer after Dunn filed claim with the EEOC.
Dunn had been employed with Apache as a bus driver and painter. According to the suit, Dunn earned $19 per hour while her male counterparts earned $23 per hour, despite having some 15 years of experience.
After speaking with management about raising her pay rate to be comparable to that of her male counterparts on numerous occasions, Dunn claims that she was told her hourly rate would increase but she never received an increase. Additionally, Dunn alleges in the suit that she was "forced to perform additional duties that other male employees were not required to perform and yelled at in front of other male employees."
In October 2016, she filed with the EEOC alleging unfair treatment and discrimination. In November 2016, she filed an additional claim with the EEOC for gender discrimination, retaliation, and unequal pay before filing a third claim alleging retaliatory wrongful termination, court documents said.