Foreman's wrongful termination suit claims plaintiff saw racially charged artwork at job

HOUSTON - Complaining he experienced racial discrimination while he was an employee of Wyman-Gordon Forgings Inc., Harris County resident Derrick Wilmore pursues legal action.

A lawsuit filed Nov. 15 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas asserts Wyman-Gordon Forgings fired Wilmore instead of helping him with his complaints about the supposed mistreatment.

The company hired the plaintiff, an African American, as a foreman in October 2011.

Court papers claim Wilmore was barely on the job two weeks when the alleged discrimination began.

According to the lawsuit, he and another black worker went to the restroom and discovered "a swastika painted on the wall along with a drawing of an African American man running."

The artwork in question was reported to a supervisor, but "there was no remedial training, no discipline issued to the perpetrators, no notices posted, nothing done to remedy the racial discrimination," the suit says.

Wilmore further alleges he and the respondent's black employees were harassed and intimidated by a Caucasian colleague named Ken Gibson, adding Gibson's mid-2012 hiring put the purported racial tension at "a boiling point."

Gibson was spared any disciplinary action despite complaints against him, and Wyman-
Gordon treated its non-black workforce favorably when it comes to assignments and employment advancement, the original petition says.

It claims the work environment for Wilmore "continued to deteriorate."

Wyman-Gordon terminated the complainant two months ago "for no legitimate business reason" to which the latter believes was out of retaliation.

A jury trial is requested.

Attorney Martin A. Shellist of Shellist Lazarz Slobin LLP in Houston is representing the plaintiff.

Case No. 4:13-CV-3387