HOUSTON – A Harris County man alleges that Fiesta Mart, LLC terminated him after nearly 40 years of employment because of his age.
In a lawsuit filed on July 31 in the Harris County 189th District Court, Javier Garcia says the business faulted him for supposedly violating a lunch break-related policy as a front to fire him.
Garcia, who is in his early 60s, worked for Fiesta from Aug. 11, 1981 to Aug. 16, 2017.
The defendant reportedly instructed its employees to eat store food from a list during their lunch breaks.
“This list included foods such as bread and ham,” the suit says. “However, if the employees did not want to eat food from that list, they were allowed to eat a piece of fruit.”
Court documents further explain that about a month before his purported termination, Garcia “decided not to eat food from the list and ate one peach.” The store spoke to the plaintiff about the incident, but reportedly assured him he would not face severe consequences.
Garcia states that Fiesta reneged on its word and fired him over the so-called “peach incident.” He adds the defendant had subsequently terminated “a wave of other older employees.”
Consequently, Garcia seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
He is represented by Alfonso Kennard, Jr. of the law firm Kennard Richard P.C. in Houston.
Harris County 189th District Court Case No. 2018-50606