Delaware's Suburban Waste Services Inc. sued by fired Phila. employee for alleged race discrimination

A Philadelphia man is suing a Delaware-based waste disposal company over claims that

he was discriminated against because of his race while he was under the defendant’s employ, and subsequently terminated without cause after three-and-half years on the job.

Lamar Faison filed suit Feb. 21 against Wilmington, DE-based Suburban Waste Services Inc., and its owner, Lou Bizzari, Jr., alleging race discrimination, unequal pay, retaliation, hostile work environment and failure to pay overtime wages.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Bensalem, Pa. employment attorney Ari R. Karpf, of the firm Karpf, Karpf & Cerutti, says that Faison, who was hired by the company as a truck driver three-plus years ago, experienced discriminatory treatment at the hands of Bizzari, who would often subject the plaintiff to derogatory comments about his African American race.

Additionally, when Faison approached Bizzari about a possible raise in pay, the defendant told Faison that the worker would not be getting a raise because of his “homie” President Obama, according to the complaint.

The plaintiff also claims in his civil action that he was treated in a demeaning manner at times, unlike his non-black coworkers, including but not limited to denying Faison promotions that were given to non-black employees with less experience and less seniority than the plaintiff, denying the plaintiff certain opportunities that his non-black coworkers received, and paying Faison less money than other employees who weren’t black.

Shortly before his termination, Faison expressed concerns to management about not being compensated for hours worked in excess of 40 per week, the lawsuit states.

Soon after making his complaints of race discrimination and overtime pay violations, Faison was allegedly terminated from his job for “completely pretextual reasons.”

“Prior to Plaintiff’s termination, Plaintiff performed his job well and did not exhibit disciplinary issues,” the complaint reads.

The lawsuit also alleges that other black employees without disciplinary issues have been terminated from the company shortly after leveling accusations of race discrimination.

Faison accuses the defendants of violating the Civil Rights Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Faison seeks to have the defendants prohibited from discriminating against employees based on race or age.

The plaintiff also seeks to be compensated for back pay, front pay, pay increases, bonuses, medical and other benefits, pension and seniority.

He is also looking for punitive damages, costs, attorney’s fees and other legal and equitable relief.

 

The federal case number is 2:13-cv-00934-RB.