PHILADELPHIA — A former employee of an electrical construction company is suing the company and his former supervisor for allegations of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
Miguel A. Vazquez filed a lawsuit on April 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Carr and Duff Inc. and Thurmund Pace, citing violation son Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1991, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance.
According to the complaint, Vazquez began working for the defendant on April 7, 2014, as a “ground hand.” The plaintiff claims that in June 2014, the defendant began to subject him to sexually explicit comments and actions. The defendant allegedly repeatedly showed the plaintiff his genitals, despite demands to stop.
On Oct. 23, 2014, the plaintiff filed an EEOC charge of discrimination against the defendants. Vazquez avers that the defendants then began to retaliate in reaction to his complaints until he was terminated on Jan. 16, 2015.
Vazquez seeks back and front pay, punitive damages, liquidated damages, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees, costs, disbursements, and a trial by jury. He is represented by Caroline H. Miller of the Derek Smith Law Group PLLC, in Philadelphia.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case number 2:16-cv-01727-CDJ