Conroe Tubing Company Pays $175,000 to Former Employee after Racially Offensive Comments

Staff Writer, May 14, 2009

The Maverick Tubing Company, which is based in Conroe Texas, recently agreed to pay one of its employees $175,000. This is because the employee was fired less than a month after he complained about racially offensive comments. Under the United States’ Equal Opportunity laws, such retaliation is illegal and can result in costly lawsuits.

According to the suit, the man was verbally assaulted by the company’s safety manager. The manager had made some negative remarks about the employee’s race and was fired. Less than one month later, the employee was falsely accused of threatening to take the information to the president if his vacation request was not approved.

The human resources manager did not make an accurate check into the claim, and instead recommended that the employee be terminated immediately. When an investigation proved that the employee had never made the threats, the company decided to settle with him outside of the courtroom. He was awarded $175,000 for lost wages, legal fees and emotional damages. Also, the company agreed to provide anti-discrimination training and issue a disciplinary notice to the human resources manager who did not effectively investigate the threat claim.