BATON ROUGE, La. – A Louisiana plastic fabrication company is being sued by a former employee who alleges he was subjected to disparate treatment because of his race, including harsher discipline.
Lady Justice
Plaintiff Leo Tolbert, who is Black, filed his complaint December 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.
In his seven-page filing, he alleges defendant Formosa Plastics Corporation, a supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, discriminated against and wrongfully terminated him.
“Defendant intentionally discriminated against Plaintiff because of his race, including imposing harsher discipline, routinely escalating minor issues to HR, and terminating Plaintiff while protecting white employees from similar consequences,” his complaint states.
Tolbert claims one incident, in particular, led to his termination.
Formosa alleges that a seal-water level transmitter stopped reading around midnight due to freezing, according to Tolbert’s lawsuit.
The company’s Standard Operating Procedures required operators to keep the seal-water system running during freeze shutdowns to avoid draining issues.
However, Tolbert argues he “made relief” with another operator at 4:30 a.m. The seal-water tank was full at that time, and there were no visible signs of malfunction, he claims.
Other employees with decades of experience, including a supervisor, failed to detect the transmitter issue until 9:30 a.m. – five hours after Tolbert left.
“At the time of the event, Plaintiff had only two years of experience and relied on the information available at hand during his shift,” his filing states.
And while four individuals involved in the chain of responsibility missed the transmitter failure, only Tolbert – the only Black operator among the four, he notes – was disciplined and ultimately terminated.
“Defendant’s decision to discipline and terminate only Plaintiff constitutes disparate treatment and unlawful race discrimination,” the complaint states.
“Non-Black operators historically received leniency or informal handling of similar or more severe mistakes. Plaintiff’s errors, in contrast, were routinely escalated to HR and resulted in harsh disciplinary action.”
Tolbert claims he suffered “severe” emotional distress, humiliation, financial loss, and damage to his professional reputation as a result of Formosa’s discriminatory actions.
He seeks back pay and lost benefits; reinstatement or front pay in lieu of reinstatement; compensatory damages for emotional distress, humiliation, and mental anguish; punitive damages; and reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.
Attorney Natalie Blackman of Baton Rouge is representing Tolbert in the suit.
