HARRISBURG — The former director of equal employment opportunity at the state Department of Corrections has filed a lawsuit against the agency.
Raphael K. Chieke filed a complaint on Jan. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against the department and several individual defendants, alleging that they denied plaintiff's application for a promotion based on his race.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff, an African-American naturalized citizen from Nigeria, alleges that he experienced discrimination because of his race and national origin and was constructively terminated on April 28.
Other defendants are state officials John E. Wetzel, Shirley Moore Smeal, Christopher Oppman, William Sprenkle, Kathryn McVey, Marc Goldberg, Ty Stanton and Timothy Musser. They are accused of discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation.
The plaintiff holds the defendants responsible for allegedly promoting less qualified candidates who were not African-American or Nigerian and forcing him out for engaging in protected investigations of alleged discrimination.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment against the defendants for compensatory damages in an amount that exceeds the jurisdictional limits of this court, punitive damages, court costs and any further relief this court grants. He is represented by Kymberley L. Best of Best Law Offices, LLC in Sunbury and Timothy A. Bowers of Time Bowers Law Office in Sunbury.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Case number 3:02-at-06000