NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana man has filed a federal lawsuit against his former employer, alleging the chiropractor discriminated against him and eventually terminated him due to his sexual orientation.
Plaintiff Oscar Armando Pineda, an East Baton Rouge resident, filed his lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The named defendants are Geaux Chiro LLC and Dynamic Performance Chiropractic of Hammond LLC, doing business as Geaux Chiro Hammond. Both are based in Prairieville, Louisiana.
According to the lawsuit, Geaux Chiro has eight locations across South Louisiana, seven of those locations within the greater East Baton Rouge area.
Pineda was hired as a chiropractic assistant at Geaux Chiro’s office in Hammond in July 2024. Like medical assistants, chiropractic assistants assisted with treatment and maintained patient records, but did not typically handle triage.
Prior to his employment at Geaux Chiro, Pineda claims he had 14 years of experience working as a certified medical assistant.
In his 14-page complaint, Pineda claims the discrimination began almost immediately – even before being hired.
As part of the interview process, Pineda was asked to come to the office for a “shadow shift.” On July 12, 2024, he arrived at the Hammond office.
Office Manager Sarah Darouse noticed Pineda was wearing earrings; she asked him to remove them because they were too “gay,” Pineda claims.
Darouse also warned him not to be too “gay” in front of the patients, Pineda alleges.
“Plaintiff identifies as a gay man, but at this point, he had not specifically disclosed his orientation to Ms. Darouse,” the complaint states, noting that Geaux Chiro did not have a policy prohibiting staff from wearing earrings or jewelry.
However, he complied by removing his earrings.
At the end of the shadow shift, Darouse allegedly told Pineda she liked him but also remarked that he was “so gay it was ridiculous,” he was a “spicy latina,” his mannerisms were “very gay” and he needed to add “bass” to his voice because it was too feminine for Dr. Derek Bruner and/or the patients. Bruner oversees operations at the Hammond office and is one of owner Matthew Shelly’s business partners.
“This commentary was made in front of the other staff members in the office,” the filing states. “Plaintiff left the interview unsure if he would be hired due to his sexual orientation.”
Darouse informed him on July 14, 2024, that he would likely get the job.
“However, she also remarked in a follow up message that ‘the only thing doc was worried about is the conversation we had [about not being too gay in front of patients]. But it’s us looking out for you because we do have some asshole patients,’” the lawsuit states.
Pineda started working at the office on July 17, 2024.
He claims during his employment he was asked to take on additional tasks that the other male staff members in his same position did not finish and was assigned additional responsibilities. He was not paid additional compensation, he alleges.
Also, Pineda claims conversations at Geaux Chiro were “often unprofessional.”
Darouse allegedly suggested Pineda have a threesome with her, while other co-workers allegedly grabbed his chest and pretended like they were going to smack his butt.
According to his filing, Pineda has epilepsy, which he claims is triggered by stress and overstimulation. Prior to working at Geaux Chiro, he had been seizure-free for almost a year.
“Plaintiff started feeling very anxious while working in the clinic because of these comments and jokes,” the complaint states. “Plaintiff suffered two seizures while at Geaux Chiro.”
His termination came in August 2024 after his friend Hannah Veatch also was hired as a chiropractic assistant at the office. Veatch and Pineda lived together at the time.
After a physical altercation between the two – at their apartment and unrelated to work – Pineda claims he removed his belongings from the apartment and had police document the incident.
On Aug. 18, 2024, the day after the incident, Pineda informed Darouse the police told him he should not be around Veatch after the argument.
“Ms. Veatch and plaintiff did not feel it was necessary to bring this personal matter into work, so plaintiff offered to resign so Ms. Veatch would not lose her job. However, Ms. Darouse assured plaintiff that his job was safe and asked him to come in the following Monday to bring a copy of the police report. Plaintiff was relieved to not be losing his position,” the complaint states.
Darouse allegedly assured Pineda that Bruner’s policy is that whoever threw the first punch was the person who would be terminated and, accordingly, Veatch was terminated.
“However, Ms. Veatch called Dr. Matthew Shelly to complain about the incident over the weekend,” the complaint states. “Ms. Darouse’s promise that plaintiff would not be fired changed, and she said that she and Dr. Bruner were frustrated about the situation.
“Ms. Darouse texted plaintiff that ‘I can’t lose my job over this [because Dr. Shelly] thinks I can’t handle y’all.’”
On Aug. 19, 2024, Pineda claims he came to work and provided the police report to Darouse and Bruner as directed, and again explained what happened.
“After the plaintiff explained what happened, Dr. Bruner terminated plaintiff, pointedly remarking that plaintiff’s ‘drama’ was what he ‘didn’t want from the beginning,’” the lawsuit states.
Pineda contends he suffered and continues to suffer “pervasive” mental and emotional distress, anguish, humiliation, embarrassment, loss of confidence, fright, depression, loss of pay and anxiety.
He argues he was “specifically targeted” by the defendants for his sexual orientation and that their actions created a hostile working environment resulting from the “incessant” sexual harassment by various employees.
Pineda seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney fees.
Attorney Kenneth C. Bordes in New Orleans is representing Pineda in the action.
