A Black former employee has initiated a lawsuit against a Planet Fitness franchise in Diamond Bar, California, alleging he was wrongfully terminated earlier this year due to racial discrimination. Jeramino Wardlaw claims he was fired after being accused of doing school homework while on duty, a practice he asserts was also engaged in by Latino co-workers who faced no disciplinary action.
Wardlaw’s lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, includes allegations of racial discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination and harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages from the fitness chain.
According to the suit, Wardlaw was hired in February and typically worked 40 hours weekly while also attending school. The complaint states that many of his colleagues were also college students, but they were Latino, and he was the only Black employee.
A representative for Planet Fitness did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday.
Wardlaw’s co-workers regularly made derogatory jokes about Black people and two of them referred to him with a Spanish racial slur, according to the complaint. In addition, the plaintiff’s supervisor circulated racially offensive memes and stickers in the workplace group chat, encouraging and contributing to the ongoing harassment directed at Wardlaw, the suit alleges.
During Wardlaw’s employment, it was common practice for employees to complete homework during their shifts when there were no guests present and many did so at the front desk without discipline, according to the suit, which further states that the plaintiff’s colleagues told him it was OK to do so.
Relying on what he believed was an established workplace practice, Wardlaw did his school work one night when there were no guests, the suit states. But on March 8, Wardlaw’s supervisor told him he should not be doing homework while on duty and he obeyed the suit states.
Four days later, Wardlaw was fired and was told it was because he was doing school work while on the job, the suit states. Although management said they would take Wardlaw’s suggestion and review security video to see if other employees did homework while on duty, no one was actually investigated or disciplined, according to the suit.
After Wardlaw’s firing and up until he was removed from the group chat, co-workers continued circulating racially offensive memes, including those of a Black man saying “hallelujah” and another showing a celebrity saying “Amen,” the suit states.
Wardlaw has suffered lost earnings as well as emotional distress since his firing, the suit states.
