NEW ORLEANS – A former Tangipahoa Parish School System employee alleges in a federal lawsuit filed last month that the reorganization of its transportation department, which left him jobless, was “racially motivated.”
Plaintiff Carlton L. Galmon Sr. filed his lawsuit June 26 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The school system, located in Amite, La., is the only named defendant.
Galmon, 54, was hired by the school system as its transportation coordinator April 19, 2021. He claims, in his seven-page lawsuit, that the school system defamed his name, retaliated against him in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, and violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
ADEA forbids employment discrimination against anyone at least 40 years old, or older, in the U.S. The Civil Rights Act is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
Galmon, who is Black, alleges he began having issues after he sent an April 11, 2022 email. In that email, he said the outcome of a directive given by Brett Schnadelbach, one of his supervisors, would leave several bus routes uncovered. Those routes, Galmon pointed out in the email, were exclusively in Black areas.
According to his complaint, Galmon listed the routes in the email and copied Schnadelbach and the school system’s superintendent, Melissa Martin Stilley. He claims this caused the NAACP to report a violation of the desegregation order.
Galmon alleges he also complained that the school system’s transportation department, which was made up of all Black employees, was understaffed and thus posed problems for transportation in Black communities.
He contends that in June 2022 his supervisors, Schnadelbach and Ronald Genco, both white, made the decision to “reorganize” the transportation department.
Galmon argues they did so in retaliation.
“Specifically, Defendant decided to shut down the whole Transportation Department because they were African American, and also because they reported to the NAACP that the policy decision by the Board and the transportation department was leading to transportation issues primarily in African American communities,” he wrote in his complaint.
“This report to the NAACP was made on April 11, 2022, and the decision to reorganize the Transportation Department was made on June 21, 2022.”
He contends outside experts recommended adding workers to the department, not terminating it.
According to his filing, the entire department’s positions were terminated July 15, 2022 and then extended to Aug. 29, 2022. Terminated employees, he alleges, were able to apply for new jobs within the school system. However, terminated transportation coordinators, such as himself, needed to reapply and be rehired.
Galmon alleges he applied to be the Transportation Area Manager July 19, 2022. He was denied the job July 22, 2022. He claims those interviewing him knew about his discrimination complaints.
“Plaintiff was harassed, discriminated against, and retaliated against because of his race, sex, age, and complaints of discrimination and retaliation,” the complaint states.
In his filing, Galmon argues he met all of the minimum qualifications for the area manager position, which he claims is “very similar” to the position he previously held.
Galmon claims he was terminated by the school system Aug. 29, 2022. Up until then, he alleges Schnadelbach and Genco made it a point to mention his discrimination complaints in “every conversation.”
He seeks back pay, front pay, including interest and benefits; non-pecuniary losses, including emotional distress damages; past and future pecuniary losses; punitive damages; attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Attorney Anundra Martin, of Metairie, La., is representing Galmon in the federal lawsuit.
