PHILADELPHIA - A Lehigh County woman is suing her former Allentown employer claiming multiple counts of discrimination in her 2013 job loss.
Lubomira Derewecki of Whitehall sued Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority (LANTA) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on July 14, claiming violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in April 2013.
According to the complaint, LANTA dismissed Derewecki, a janitor tasked with cleaning buses, on or about April 19, 2013. The defendant claimed the dismissal was due to poor job performance and that it had photographic evidence to support its claim, the suit says.
The suit states that the defendant used prints from a digital camera, unaware that the device records the date and time of photos. Derewecki’s attorney alleges that LANTA refused to allow him to examine the camera’s disk and destroyed the evidence.
Derewecki, 51, avers that she was terminated because of her age and national origin. She also claims that she was paid less than male counterparts doing the same work in violation of The Equal Pay Act. Arguing that her employer replaced her with a younger worker of a different (non-Polish) background, she seeks reinstatement or, alternatively, back and front pay and benefits.
Claiming anguish, anxiety, distress and insomnia, the plaintiff seeks compensatory, liquidated and actual damages for unpaid wages, attorneys’ fees, and court costs. She is represented by Richard Orloski of The Orloski Law firm in Allentown.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case 5:15-cv-03914-JLS.