HOUSTON – A Florida man has brought a federal wrongful termination lawsuit against a recently merged engineering, procurement and construction company, alleging that he was fired because of his age.
Ernest Breaux’s suit, which was filed on Nov. 2 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas, explains that Chicago Bridge & Iron Company (Delaware), now known as McDermott International, Inc., terminated him last year for violating company policy regarding time-keeping and expense tracking. CB&I merged with McDermott earlier this year.
The defendant reportedly took issue with Breaux billing it for his time with family in Honduras, to which the suit claims he had permission to do.
According to court documents, the 51-year-old plaintiff was replaced by a younger employee.
“At the time of the plaintiff’s termination and in the time thereafter, CB&I engaged in a pattern of terminating older employees or forcing them into retirement,” the original petition says. “As in the plaintiff’s case, the defendants looked to made-up reasons to let an older worker go, as a pretext for age discrimination. CB&I then replaced these employees with younger workers.”
Consequently, Breaux seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
She is represented by the law firm Coane & Associates, PLLC in Houston.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:18-CV-4171