NEW ORLEANS – Current and former New Orleans Regional Transit Authority employees allege senior officials and supervisors repeatedly discriminated against them, harassed them, and retaliated against them, in a federal lawsuit.
Twelve current and former RTA employees filed their lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The lead plaintiff, Demetrius Garner, is employed by RTA as a senior transit operations supervisor. Garner, who is Black, claims he has been the primary whistleblower in the action and his numerous audio recordings show “systemic misconduct” at RTA.
In their 76-page complaint, the plaintiffs contend the discrimination and harassment spanned years, and even included the use of slurs and references to what is described as a “hotties list.” The list, they allege, was a list of employees compiled based on their physical appearance.
The plaintiffs contend RTA officials, pointing to the “hotties list,” insisted it use only “attractive” and “culturally ambiguous” staff for marketing purposes and other decision-making.
Thirteen individual defendants are named in the lawsuit, in addition to RTA itself.
“This action arises from a systemic, pervasive, and ongoing pattern of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage theft, and dangerous working conditions perpetuated by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (‘RTA’) and its management against twelve current and former employees,” the complaint states.
“What distinguishes this case from the ordinary employment dispute is not merely the severity or duration of the misconduct – though both are extraordinary – but the fact that RTA’s own executives have been recorded on audio admitting to virtually every element of Plaintiffs’ claims.”
The filing alleges that across no fewer than nine separate audio recordings, from May 2025 to March 2026, RTA’s chief human resources officer, its chief transit officer, its service delivery managers, and its directors have been caught making the following admissions, among many others:
* RTA “suppressed salaries” and compensation is “almost completely out of balance;”
* The prior administration “tried to bury” employee complaints;
* Formal complaints “may have disappeared” in the system;
* That there was an “absence of management;”
* RTA supervisors are willfully misclassified, and that RTA is deliberating delaying reclassification to avoid paying overtime during Mardi Gras; and
* That management referred to Black supervisory staff as “roaches” who “scattered” when observed.
“These are not allegations requiring inference or interpretation. These are the Defendants' own words, recorded lawfully under Louisiana’s one-party consent statute, and verified by multiple Plaintiffs who were present,” the complaint states. “They constitute direct evidence of discriminatory intent, retaliatory animus, deliberate indifference, and willful violations of federal and state law.”
The plaintiffs – who include supervisors, dispatchers, managers, and professionals – contend they have endured physical assaults that were dismissed as “horseplay,” and homophobic slurs that resulted in one-day suspensions while the victims received no protection.
They also allege that sexual harassment was met with increased scrutiny of the complainants; that pornographic materials were left in company vehicles as “acts of targeted harassment;” that gender-based epithets were screamed in the faces of female supervisors with impunity; and retaliatory terminations, demotions, and suspensions were designed to “silence those who dared speak up.”
Working conditions were “so dangerous” that supervisors are forced to drive buses with flat tires and missing mirrors, the plaintiffs allege.
Often, they also are forced to respond to emergencies alone “in a city rife with violent crime” and operate rail vehicles using procedures that RTA personnel describe as posing an “imminent fatality risk,” the filing states.
The RTA system includes streetcar lines, bus routes, and ferry routes, and also offers paratransit services, according to its website.
“RTA is a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana, funded with public tax dollars and entrusted with the safety of millions of riders annually,” the complaint states. “It has betrayed that trust at every level.
“Its chief-level executives have admitted on tape that the organization is broken, that it suppresses wages, that it retaliates against whistleblowers, and that its workplace culture is – in their own words – ‘the culture.’”
The plaintiffs allege RTA has violated the Civil Rights Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
They seek compensatory damages, punitive damages, back pay, front pay, and injunctive relief.
In their filing, the plaintiffs say they want to “send an unmistakable message” that public employers in Louisiana are not above the law.
The King Norris Law Firm in New Orleans is representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
