HOUSTON - A federal lawsuit accuses the city of Houston of firing a man because of his age and race.
Recent court papers filed May 30 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas argue that Anthony Freddie's termination went against city policy.
Freddie, who is in his early 50s, worked for the defendant from September 1989 to September 2011.
He was 50 years old and employed as a management analyst at the time of the alleged events.
The suit shows the city used a "last hired, first fired" approach to handling layoffs, but after a merger which included Freddie's division, it "deviated from policy and procedure."
According to the complaint, the layoff selection criteria was applied "inconsistently," adversely affecting minority and older employees with Freddie among them.
In addition, white workers were given reconsiderations when it came to appeals as opposed to their non-white counterparts, the original petition says.
Freddie explains that the city hired two younger individuals to his division about three months before the layoffs, claiming they were less qualified.
He adds another worker many years his junior was promoted despite the latter being on probation at the time.
His subsequent attempts to appeal were unsuccessful, the suit says.
"The defendant's stated reason for Mr. Freddie's termination was due to reorganization," it states.
"In fact, the plaintiff's termination was done for discriminatory reasons."
A jury trial is requested.
Freddie is represented by attorney Nasim Ahmad of Cline Ahmad of The Woodlands.
Case No. 4:13-CV-1600
City of Houston's firing of management analyst deviated from policy, suit says
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