A Black man filed a race discrimination complaint against his employer and was fired a week later, according to an Iowa lawsuit.
Now, Devin Ellis has been awarded $205,300 after a Polk County jury determined his boss created a “hostile work environment” and fired him in retaliation for his race-based complaints, Higgins Law Firm said in an Aug. 4 news release.
Ellis was hired by Storage and Design Group Inc. in December 2021 and later promoted to become a crew leader, according to his attorney, Stuart Higgins. But, according to the lawsuit, Ellis was paid less than white workers at the company and given “less desirable positions and work” than his white colleagues.
Court records filed by Ellis’ attorney state he was subjected to “repeated racist comments by his boss,” Ronald Patterson,