Seaman claims he suffered racially motivated horrors in lawsuit

Imagine being racially harassed and physically assaulted on the job to the point of having to jump overboard and swim for your life, only to be fired for abandoning the job.

That’s what a Mississippi dockworker claims happened to him in his racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against his employer, reports the Louisiana Record.

Douglas Clayton’s suit states that while employed by defendant John W. Stone Oil Distributor from May 6, 2010 to Nov. 9, 2010, he regularly endured being the butt of “black jokes” and other forms of racial harassment by numerous employees.

The Human Resources Manager transferred him to another boat after he reported this behavior.

The harassment continued and he was told to “lighten up,” the suit states. Then, one of the workers who previously harassed him was transferred to his new boat and physically battered and assaulted him, along with other workers. Clayton said he fled by jumping in the water and swimming to shore, when he was terminated for job abandonment.

He seeks compensation for back and front pay, loss of benefits, compensatory and punitive damages.

The case was filed in New Orleans federal court on Sept. 9.