A Harris County man alleges he was fired from TESCO because he accused supervisors of racial discrimination.
Von V. Carr filed a lawsuit Aug. 18 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas against TESCO Corp.
Carr says he was subjected to a "racially hostile work environment" beginning in September 2010 while working for TESCO, an oilfield services company.
He says was working as a top drive technician when a supervisor blamed him for a mistake made by a white male coworker. Carr says he went to human resources "and complained about a hostile work environment."
The supervisor was allegedly fired from the company.
Soon after that incident, according to the complaint, the man who replaced the fired supervisor along with the head of scheduling "began conspiring to get the plaintiff fired." Carr says he was written up for being 2 minutes late to a safety meeting, a reprimand that Carr says was rescinded after he complained to human resources.
On July 1, 2011, Carr says he was written up for failing to do an inspection but says a white male guilty of the same infraction was not disciplined. A month later, Carr says he was sent to work in New Mexico by his TESCO supervisor. He says he was abruptly taken off the job 28 hours later and told to return to Houston.
Carr says he worked a full day immediately following his return from New Mexico but was terminated the next day. He says he was told he was being fired for leaving a job site without permission, taking too long to make repairs and making a mistake on paperwork.
Carr calls it a "no-win situation." He says if he had stayed longer he "would have been written up again for not leaving after his relief came or written up for driving past midnight."
Carr accuses TESCO of discriminating against him because of his race.
He also accuses the company of retaliation "which included frequent written reprimands based on false allegations or for very small infractions that went unnoticed" for his co-workers.
Carr is asking for an unspecified amount in damages for back pay, front pay, inconvenience and emotional pain.
He also asks to be rehired by TESCO and reinstated to the position and pay grade which he held prior to the alleged unlawful actions.
Attorney Allecia Pottinger of Lindsey Pottinger Law Firm PLLC in Houston, represents Carr. They seek a jury trial.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas case number: 4:14-CV-02378.
This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed at the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note that a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.