Racial Hostility, Guns and Intimidation at Local City Departments
MODESTO, CA - A dedicated and hard working employee for the City of Oakdale, William Moffitt, an African American male, was called a "sand nigger" several times, treated differently than his non African American peers and humiliated on a regular basis because of his race.
Added to the racial environment, on several occasions during breaks, city employees would bring their guns to work and show them off to Moffitt in a threatening manner. These are the same employees, supervisors and peers, who created the racial atmosphere.
The combination of the guns and racial hostility made Moffitt extremely uncomfortable and concerned for his safety. Moffitt's complaints of discrimination to the Director of Public Works were never investigated and indeed, ignored. Moffitt was terminated due to his complaints of racism, racial hostility, discrimination and harassment in the work place, but the harassment and retaliation did not stop there.
Moffitt was then hired by the City of Modesto. Moffitt received a stellar review during his first Performance Evaluation from the City of Modesto. Soon after the review, Moffitt's Supervisor and a co-worker began asking the Moffitt questions about his complaints of discrimination and retaliation against the City of Oakdale. Moffitt's Supervisor continuously threatened Moffitt that he had "better not create any waves and do as told" or he would lose his employment with the City of Modesto. Furthermore, Moffitt was subject to being called "boy" by his Supervisor and forced to work during scheduled days off. Moffitt was wrongfully terminated on May 29, 2007 by the City of Modesto.
"It is inconceivable that this type of racial behavior continues today in 2008, but it does! The only way to end it is to let the defendants know that it simply will not be tolerated in a civilized society," said Plaintiff's attorney, Angela Alioto.
Click here to read the Plaintiff's complaint in PDF format.
