PITTSBURGH - A Philadelphia woman filed suit against her employer, claiming racial inequity and retaliation in her job treatment dating to 2012.
Teresa Baptiste sued Aqua America Inc., located at 762 W. Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr, in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania on July 16, claiming a pattern of discriminatory treatment beginning in October 2012.
According to court documents, Baptiste was hired in the spring of 2009 as a service order specialist. She claims that she and other African-American employees were treated disparately and disciplined excessively, while Caucasian workers were not subjected to the same conditions.
The suit states that Aqua America engaged in harassment with reckless indifference to her rights, taking adverse employment reactions such as isolation, discipline and constructive termination. Baptiste resigned Jan. 12.
Alleging that the defendant was in violation of Age Discrimination in Employment Act and Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Baptiste asserts mental anguish, emotional strain, loss of income and benefits, humiliation, and inconvenience.
Having filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she received notice of the right to sue April 15 following the defendant’s alleged failure to achieve voluntary resolution of her claims.
The plaintiff seeks injunctive action, compensatory, punitive, and liquidated damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, attorneys’ fees, and court costs. She is represented by David Koller of Koller Law in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case 2:15-cv-03954-JCJ.