White gardener wins racial discrimination case against Latino boss
Syafique Shuib
February 14, 2016 12:16 MYT
February 14, 2016 12:16 MYT
Los Angeles City Hall is bathed in red light as 3-D digital mapping projections are tested for tomorrow's New Year's Eve celebration at Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, California, December 30, 2015. - AFP Photo/Robyn Beck
THE Los Angeles City Council awarded $3.8 million (RM15.77 million) to a white gardener working for the city's Department of Parks and Recreation following years of abuse and discrimination at the hands of his Latino boss.
According to a report by Mashable which cited court documents, James Duffy sued the city for discrimination, harassment and retaliation based on race and disability.
Duffy experienced the discrimination when working with his supervisor Abel Perez starting in 2001.
He alleged that Perez continued to make racist remarks including “I hate while people” and was assigned big tasks without being given any assistance, unlike his Latino counterparts.
It was also alleged that Lopez used Duffy’s injury which resulted in a short term memory loss to his advantage by claiming Duffy forgot to complete his tasks he was never given.
Duffy’s attorney – Carney Shegerian – said his client is looking forward to move on from the case.
"Our client went through an awful lot of harassment and retaliation.… No one should be treated like that, regardless of your colour.
“We're real happy for Jim Duffy and I'm glad he's going to be able to put this behind him pretty soon,” he told the Los Angeles Times.