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ST. LOUIS RECORD

Friday, March 29, 2024

Worker claims race discrimination in suit against Southwest Airlines over firing

Lawsuits
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ST. LOUIS – A St. Charles County man recently filed a suit against Southwest Airlines alleging race discrimination after being terminated from his job because of a disagreement.

Patrick Dougherty filed the lawsuit against Southwest Airlines on Oct. 17 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleging that an African-American co-worker was favored after a dispute over an airplane tug during his regular shift as a ramp agent at Lambert International Airport.

In the suit, Dougherty alleges that Southwest did not terminate the co-worker, Isaiah Carter, "an African-American, and, in fact, it rendered absolutely no discipline whatsover against Isaiah Carter, but defendant terminated plaintiff, a white Caucasian, without giving plaintiff any progressive discipline whatsoever, even though both Isaiah Carter and the plaintiff had engaged in similar conduct with respect to dealings with each other."

According to court filings, on March 15, Carter was late for work and took the first tug at Lambert's ramp, disregarding that the vehicle had already been claimed by Dougherty, who had placed his belongings inside the tug as per a previous company memo regarding the procedure for claiming of a tug. Dougherty and Carter then argued, with Carter refusing to leave the tug.

Dougherty went to management aboutthe tug, and was terminated on March 23, whereas Carter has never been disciplined or terminated, the suit said. The complaint stated that Southwest's conduct toward Dougherty was "done maliciously, with evil motive or in reckless disregard for the rights of plaintiff."

After filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Dougherty was granted a right to sue by the commission.

Dougherty's suit seeks actual, compensatory, and punitive damages in excess of $75,000, plus the payment of attorneys' fees, and other court costs, as well as a jury trial. He is represented in the case by attorney David Heimos of Heimos Law of Clayton.

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