HOUSTON – A Harris County man who used to head a local after-school program is suing his former employer and others for wrongfully discharging him almost two months ago.
John Duman’s lawsuit against Zenith Premier, Inc. and shareholders Feridun Yilmaz and Mehmet Haluk Orgun, which was filed on Aug. 5 in the Harris County 295th District Court, alleges the defendants terminated Duman “in violation of law and his employment contract.”
The plaintiff was brought on by nonprofit Raindrop Foundation to serve as CEO of Zenith Learning, which ZPI bought in November 2016. Last August, he signed a contract which guaranteed him an annual salary of nearly $120,000 and ten percent of ZPI’s annual operation profit.
“The contract also provided that the plaintiff could not be fired for an illegal reason,” the suit says.
Duman pinpoints his firing to his refusal to discriminate against personnel of Turkish origin, hire a principal’s relative who could not legally work in the U.S., and opposed spending that placed the organization deep in debt.
“These actions were contributing factors to the defendant’s decision to fire him,” the suit says.
Court papers further argue that the termination was retaliatory in nature.
Consequently, Duman seeks unspecified monetary damages.
He is represented by Carter Thompson of Austin.
Harris County 295th District Court Case No. 2018-51999