ALEXANDRIA – A former employee has filed a lawsuit against the City of Pineville claiming he was terminated from his employment for reporting racial discrimination.
Michael Smith filed the lawsuit in federal court against Pineville citing allegations of racial discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
According to court documents, Smith was employed by the city as a utility technician from October 2018 until his termination in August 2022. Smith alleges that during his employment with the defendant, he was subjected to a hostile work environment based on race and that his employer provided preferential treatment to white employees in terms of direct employment and overtime opportunities. Smith claims that he reported the discriminatory practices to the human resources department, but no corrective action was taken.
Smith claims that in July 2022, he put in a written request to use his accrued vacation days, which was approved by his supervisor. Smith claims that while he was on vacation, he continued to take work calls and remained in communication with his employer. Smith claims that on August 12, 2022, he was notified by human resources that he was being terminated from his position due to excessive absences. Smith believes that this reason is a pretext and that he was actually terminated for his complaints about discrimination.
The lawsuit states that Smith has filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and received a Notice of Right to Sue.
Smith is seeking compensatory damages for past lost wages and liquidated damages, plus interest, court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
He is being represented by Amanda Butler and Megan W. Kelley of Business Law Group in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana Alexandria Division case number 1:23-cv-01631