NEW ORLEANS – A former employee has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Kentronix alleging he was wrongfully terminated after reporting racial slurs from his operations manager.
Joshua Watkins filed the lawsuit in federal court against Alarm Central Inc. doing business as Kentronix citing discrimination and the violation of his rights as protected under the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
According to court documents, Watkins is Black, which is protected class under Section 1981. Watkins says he was hired by Alarm Central to work as a technician on June 9, 2022. However, less than two weeks into his employment, on June 21, 2022, Watkins alleges he was subjected to racial slurs by his non-Black operations manager during a conversation. According to the lawsuit, following this incident, Watkins reported the offensive behavior to his upper manager, who instead of addressing the racial slur, informed Watkins the company could not afford to lose the operations manager. Watkins says he terminated from his position the next day.
Watkins contends Kentronix discriminated against him by denying employment based on his. He says the discriminatory actions were intentional, willful, malicious and exhibited a gross disregard for his rights under Section 1981.
He is demanding a jury trial to seek judgment for all recoverable damages, including punitive damages as well as court costs, attorney fees and other relief.
Walker is being represented by Chad E. Levy and Harris Nizel of the Law Offices of Levy & Levy in Coral Springs.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida case number 0:23-cv-62091