A former employee has filed a lawsuit alleging age and race discrimination against a major railway company. Rodney J. Green, through his attorney, filed the complaint on September 6, 2024, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway (CPKC), operating as Superior Tie and Timber, along with two supervisors.
Rodney J. Green, a black male over fifty years old, claims he was subjected to discriminatory practices by his employer CPKC and supervisors Steven Barr and Greg Kravtsov. Green had been employed at the Superior Tie and Timber plant in Vivian, Louisiana since 2005 and served as Assistant Plant Manager from 2011 until his termination in October 2023. Despite consistently receiving positive job performance reviews and maintaining a spotless disciplinary record, Green alleges that he was passed over for promotion to Plant Manager in favor of Steven Barr, a younger white male who lacked the necessary qualifications.
The complaint details numerous instances of alleged discrimination during the 180 days preceding Green's dismissal. These include being required to perform the duties of Plant Manager without appropriate compensation, receiving unwarranted negative job evaluations, being referred to as "old man," and being falsely accused of making racially insensitive remarks. Furthermore, Green contends that he was forced to train Barr for the Plant Manager position without additional pay and faced insubordination from employees due to contradictory instructions from Barr.
Green asserts that these actions created a hostile work environment leading up to his termination on October 5, 2023. The termination letter cited false allegations of racial slurs and refusal to allow employees access to an air-conditioned break room as reasons for his dismissal. According to Green, this letter demonstrates that upper management was complicit in the discriminatory practices against him.
The plaintiff seeks several forms of relief from the court: back pay, front pay, benefits lost due to discriminatory practices, general damages for emotional distress and humiliation, exemplary damages to deter future misconduct by the defendants, and coverage of legal costs including attorney’s fees. Additionally, Green requests injunctive relief such as mandatory training on employment discrimination for all management-level employees at CPKC and active monitoring of work areas to ensure compliance with anti-discrimination policies.
Representing Rodney J. Green is attorney Jeffry L. Sanford from Sanford and Associates based in Baton Rouge.
Case ID: 5:24-cv-01227.