Craig Bruss sues Terranea Resort for wrongful termination, retaliation, racial discrimination and harassment, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligent hiring, supervision, and retention.
Bruss is a 40-year old white male who worked for the resort as a security guard from June 2018 to July 2020.
According to Bruss’s suit, he was subjected to a hostile work environment where he received racial and derogatory remarks from his Latino coworkers. Bruss stated that they often glared, stared, and threatened him. He was asked “what color are you?” and one of his Latino coworkers often openly said “I don’t like white people” while he stared at Bruss.
In an incident when some of the employees were talking about an upcoming wedding, one of the Latino workers said “I won’t go if white people are going to be there” while staring at Bruss.
His Latino coworkers continued making racial remarks even after he complained to them. He felt “ostracized and isolated” and was often excluded from conversations with other security guards who spoke Spanish in his presence.
Bruss had a disagreement with a Latino coworker who yelled at him and lied to their supervisor about what had happened. In September of 2019, Bruss took some time off for vacation but was excluded from the work schedule when he returned. Bruss strongly felt that the company had planned to replace him with the less qualified Latino who stood in for him while he was away.
In October 2019, during a conversation with a Latino guard, Bruss was able to confirm another guard’s derogatory comments about white people. Bruss recorded this conversation.
Bruss reported the hostile work environment, the recorded conversation, and his suicidal thoughts and emotional distress to his supervisor.
Bruss was suspended in early July and later that month he was told he was being fired for recording the conversation with a coworker in the months prior without the coworker’s consent.
Terranea insisted that this was against the company’s policies, in spite of their knowledge of the incident and not taking any action.
Are you suffering in a hostile work environment? Are you the subject of unwelcome comments or conduct based on race or color in the workplace? Most people think they’ll know a hostile work environment when they see it, but identifying it is more complicated than one would think.
If you are being subjected to a hostile work environment, racial or derogatory comments or actions, it is best to contact an experienced racial discrimination attorney. At Mesriani Law Group, our employment and labor law attorneys have extensive experience handling racial discrimination and wrongful termination cases. Call our offices today at (310) 826-6300 for a free analysis of your claims.
