ORLANDO, Fla. – A lawsuit filed against the City of Orlando claims a worker endured nearly two-and-a-half years of racial discrimination before he claims he was forced to resign in order to end it.
According to the lawsuit, Earnest Allen claims he worked as an HVAC supervisor at Amway Center when he was repeatedly called racial slurs by his supervisors.
The lawsuit contends one supervisor would call him racial slurs, including the "n-word," "black monkey," and others.
Another, the lawsuit claims, "would yell at Plaintiff when he used a ladder at work, 'look at the monkey on the ladder.'"
Another supervisor, the lawsuit claims, "would wrap a chain around his neck and tell Plaintiff, 'look, Earnest, we hanging the n-word.'"
According to the lawsuit, Allen says he went to the City of Orlando Human Resources Department on July 10, 2017, complaining that he was enduring racial discrimination at work.
The lawsuit claims the city did nothing.
The next month, Allen claims he was forced to resign, telling News 6 he couldn't work in those conditions anymore.
News 6 asked Orlando city officials about the lawsuit.
They said they had not been served with the lawsuit yet, but they claimed they never received any complaint about racial name-calling from Allen.
Allen tells News 6 that is not true.
According to the lawsuit, Allen is seeking lost wages and benefits.
His attorney says Allen is also willing to be reinstated to a comparable position if he gets backpay plus interest.