by Daniel Johnson
August 13, 2024
Joseph Pitts, a former Southwest Airlines supervisor, filed a lawsuit against his former employer on July 29 in San Mateo County Superior Courts.
Joseph Pitts, a former Southwest Airlines supervisor, filed a lawsuit against his former employer on July 29 in San Mateo County Superior Courts, alleging that the airline engaged in racial discrimination, harassment, wrongful firing, and retaliation.
“It makes me have this anxiety, it makes me feel, ‘Was it the right thing that I did?’ Because you’re jobless, you don’t have any income,” Pitts, 53, told The Mercury News.
Pitts said he was referred by other employees, including Black employees, as the n-word. He said he did not want to be addressed in that manner, but the behavior continued. “I didn’t want to come to work and hear that, ” he explained. “I knew it was going to stir up a pot, but these working conditions are not right. For a Fortune 500 company, I wouldn’t think they would have this going on.”
As a result of his repeated complaints to his supervisors, Pitts was informed that a ramp agent had allegedly threatened to lodge grievances against him in an attempt to get him fired.
According to the lawsuit, in October 2023, Pitts asked a Southwest Airlines administrator if he had heard about the frequent use of the n-word at the Southwest facility. After the administrator responded affirmatively, Pitts told him about three employees he alleged were targeting him.
Pitts also received threats from a manager to fire him over his attendance and threatened to fire or demote him, his lawsuit claims. In November, Pitts and another supervisor were talking in a supervisor’s office, next to the employee break room, and a ramp agent walked into the break room, where they allegedly loudly complained that workers were not allowed to “say the b-word and the n-word anymore,” then used profanity before saying the n-word.
According to the lawsuit, shortly after, when Pitts walked into the break room, he was glared at menacingly.
In December, Pitts was informed by a manager that he was fired after it had been determined that he failed to assist in the investigation. As a result, Pitts had to go into his retirement funds and has yet to find a job. His sick wife has puts off necessary medical expenses.
“Why would you do this to somebody who was trying to make changes, who was trying to tell you that these people are violating company policy?” Pitts told The Mercury News. “Why would you do this to me?”
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