A Florida parks and recreation worker is suing the City of Miami for racial discrimination after multiple complaints have come to light by black workers. The 59-year-old man, who has worked in various public works, sanitation and parks department jobs for the city for 37 years, says that his supervisor used the N-word against him in 2013, calling him the racial slur in an argument. He says that he was subjected to various discriminatory incidents since 2011, which was when a new supervisor was introduced at the job.
The man says that he filed an internal complaint that led to his claims being labeled unfounded. He also brought the incident to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on two occasions, which dismissed his claim. The supervisor involved says that he did not use the racial slur and that the workplace discrimination issues arise out of other disputes, such as when he and the 59-year-old man ran against each other in a union election. However, other black workers in Miami have also reported discrimination on the job. Several workers say that they were denied promotions, placed specifically in a less desirable park and sent to pick up trash rather than performing their skilled positions.
In his lawsuit, the 59-year-old man says that, like these other black workers, he was sent to North Shore Open Space Park and assigned to litter control and emptying trash despite being trained on irrigation and working for years with heavy equipment. The city has denied wrongdoing in this and the related cases. However, some employees say it failed to perform a serious investigation of the issues.
Racial discrimination and other forms of unfair workplace treatment continue to seriously affect employees in many industries. Workers subjected to employment discrimination may contact a lawyer for legal assistance.
