HOUSTON – A Harris County man alleges Home Depot U.S.A., Inc. terminated him because of his age and race.
In a lawsuit filed on Aug. 27 in the Harris County 113th District Court, Stanley Smolensky says the home improvement retailer fired him for supposedly interacting with a female co-worker outside of work hours.
Smolensky, who is a white male in his late 50s, explains that he was assisting the co-worker financially, asserting there was no romantic or sexual relationship between them. He argues the acquaintance does not violate the company’s fraternization policy.
The original petition says one of the plaintiff’s recent store managers, a black man in his mid-30s, engaged in a romantic relationship with a female employee without any reprisal.
Home Depot terminated Smolensky and replaced him with a black female some 20 years his junior.
Consequently, the complainant seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
He is represented by Kerry V. O’Brien of the O’Brien Law Firm in Austin.
Harris County 113th District Court Case No. 2018-57926