UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION
DENNIS SIBLEY
Plaintiff,
v. CASE NO.:
UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE, LLC.,
Defendant.
__________________________/
COMPLAINT AND DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiff, DENNIS SIBLEY, by and through his undersigned counsel, submits his Complaint against the Defendant, UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE, LLC., and alleges as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1. This action is brought by the Plaintiff, DENNIS SIBLEY, for race discrimination in employment pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as codified, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e to 2000e-17 (amended in 1972, 1978 and by the Civil Rights Act of 1991).
JURISDICTION
2. Jurisdiction is specifically conferred upon this United States District Court by the aforementioned statutes, as well as 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343. Jurisdiction may also be appropriate under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1981, 1983 and 1985(3), as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991.
VENUE
3. The venue of this Court over this controversy is proper based upon the claims arising in Brevard County, Florida.
PARTIES
4. Plaintiff, DENNIS SIBLEY, resides at 1947 Croghan Drive, Melbourne, in Brevard County, Florida, and has at all times material herein, resided in Brevard County, Florida.
5. Defendant, UNITED SPACE ALLIANCE, LLC., is a limited liability company, organized under the laws of the State of Delaware, and who maintains a facility in the State of Florida, located at 8550 Astronaut Boulevard, Cape Canaveral, in Brevard County, Florida and at the time of the acts complained of herein, employed 15 or more persons.
6. Plaintiff, DENNIS SIBLEY, is a Black male.
7. Plaintiff has retained the undersigned attorney and agreed to pay a
reasonable fee.
8. On or about September 13, 2007 Plaintiff filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
9. More than one hundred eighty (180) days have passed since the filing of said complaint, and the EEOC issued Plaintiff a Right to Sue letter.
10. Plaintiff received his Right to Sue letter on June 4, 2008. See attached letter from Equal Employment Commission, Exhibit A. See attached EEOC complaint of Plaintiff, Exhibit B.
11. Plaintiff has exhausted his administrative remedies prior to bringing this action.
12. Plaintiff has complied with all conditions precedent prior to bringing this action.
COUNT I – RACE DISCRIMINATION
FEDERAL CLAIM
13. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates Paragraphs 1 through 12 inclusive of this Complaint, as if same were forth in full herein.
14. At all times material hereto, Defendant was an employer within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. §2000(b) and is subject to and governed by the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42. U.S.C. §2000e, et seq.
15. At all times material hereto, Plaintiff was an employee within the meaning of 42 U.S.C. §2000(f).
16. The Defendant discriminated against and harassed Plaintiff on the basis of his race inter alia, in the following manner: Plaintiff’s supervisors and human resource department permitted a hostile work environment due to the indifference and inaction with regard to complaints by the Plaintiff of racial intolerance and harassment by his supervisor and co-worker, which include calling the Plaintiff “boy”, indifference to a white co-worker committing assault and battery on Plaintiff on several occasions and disparate treatment with regard to sufficient training to effectively perform his job functions.
17. At all times during his employment with Defendant, Plaintiff performed all duties assigned to him in a professionally competent manner, faithfully followed all instructions given to his by his supervisors, and abided by all the rules and regulations of Defendant
18. Defendant, its agents, servants and/or employees, by their conduct herein alleged, intentionally, willfully and without justification, did deprive the Plaintiff of his rights, privileges and immunities secured to him by the laws of the United States, particularly his right to be free from racial discrimination and a hostile work environment and his rights as provided by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended 42 U.S.C. §2000e, et seq.
19. Plaintiff, by being subjected to the racially intimidating, hostile, and offensive atmosphere created by Defendant, was unreasonably affected in a “term, condition or privilege” of his employment as envisioned by 42 U.S.C. §2000e, et seq., and as amended by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, in that: (a) Plaintiff’s physical and psychological well-being was affected; and (b) the workplace was hostile.
20. The racially hostile and race-biased environment to which Plaintiff was subjected was based on him being Black.
21. As a direct, natural, proximate and foreseeable result of the Defendant’s actions, Plaintiff has suffered past and future pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of dignity and other non-pecuniary losses and intangible injuries.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendant, for all damages to which he may be entitled, including, but not limited to:
A. Compensatory damages including, but not limited to, mental anguish, loss of dignity and other intangible injuries;
B. Punitive damages;
C. An award of reasonable attorney’s fees and all costs incurred herein; and
D. All other damages to which Plaintiff may be entitled.
COUNT II — RETALIATION
FEDERAL CLAIM
22. This is an action for damages for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e-2.
23. Plaintiff re-alleges and incorporates paragraphs 1 through 12 and 14 through 21 of this Complaint as if set forth in full herein.
24. On or about January 2005, Plaintiff complained to his supervisor, Bruce Chamberlain that he had been hit in the head and called “boy” by his white co-worker, Randy Harr.
25. Plaintiff continued to complain by communicating verbally and in writing to Management and Human Resources of the racial discrimination and inappropriate conduct that the Plaintiff experienced by his white co-worker Randy Harr.
26. On or about March 2006, in response to Plaintiff’s continued complaints to management, Plaintiff was counseled about his work performance, Mr. Harr wrote a letter to management complaining of Plaintiff’s work skills, and Mr. Harr’s conduct toward Plaintiff was justified by his supervisor, Bruce Chamberlain, when Plaintiff was told “that Mr. Harr is just not a people person”.
27. Subsequent to submitting the complaints of race discrimination, harassment and hostile work environment to Defendant, Plaintiff experienced retaliation by Defendant which included: Plaintiff’s work hours were arbitrarily changed by management, Plaintiff was forced to continue to work side-by-side with Mr. Harr, Mr. Harr was permitted to continue to conduct review of Plaintiff’s work product and provide input to management, and upon return from medical leave Plaintiff was re-assigned to his old work department to perform the same duties he had prior to his promotion to Computer Staff II.
28. The actions described in paragraphs 26 and 27, supra, constitute retaliation and a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Section 2000e-2, regarding unlawful employment practices.
29. Plaintiff has suffered severe mental anguish and emotional distress and loss of dignity as a result of Defendant’s actions.
PRAYER FOR RELIEF
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff prays for judgment against Defendant, for all damages to which she may be entitled, including, but not limited to:
A. Compensatory damages including, but not limited to, mental anguish, loss of dignity and other intangible injuries;
B. Punitive damages;
C. An award of reasonable attorney’s fees and all costs incurred herein; and
D. All other damages to which Plaintiff may be entitled.
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiff demands a jury trial on all issues herein triable by jury.
Dated: 31st day of July, 2008.
Respectfully submitted
ALLEN & ARCADIER, P.A.
_____________________
Florida Bar No. 131180
Wayne L. Allen, Esquire
Florida Bar No. 0110025
Gina Silvestri, Esquire
Florida Bar No. 37844
Dedra Sibley, Esq.
Florida Bar 36517
Attorneys for Plaintiff
2815 W. New Haven, Suite 304
Melbourne, Florida 32904
Phone: (321) 953-5998
Fax: (321) 953-6075
Attorney: Arcadier & Associates, P.A.
Status: Closed
Date Filed: 07/31/2008
Our Melbourne office is centrally located in Brevard County, enabling our lawyers to serve clients throughout “the Space Coast”, including Cocoa Beach, Palm Bay and Vero Beach.
