Discriminated Worker Sues, Wins Retirement Benefits

San Francisco, CAA former postal worker in California who claims he suffered from, and was ultimately fired for discrimination was awarded $175,000 in a lawsuit, together with lifetime retirement benefits.

According to the lawsuit, Gerald Dumaguit had worked for the US postal service in the Bay Area for 26 years, beginning with a clerking job in San Francisco before moving to complaints-processing and dispute resolution jobs at the Service's Equal Employment Opportunity office in Richmond.

In spite of good workplace evaluations throughout his entire career; things appeared to begin unraveling for Dumaguit in 2000. He was on stress-related disability leave since 2001, and was ultimately dismissed in 2004.

Dumaguit believes that he was a victim of discrimination.

A Filipino, Dumaguit claims that in spite of his unblemished work record he was passed over for promotion twice in 2000 in favor of white employees. Midway through that year, Dumaguit claimed, he and other Filipinos were abruptly transferred to Richmond from their long-time base of San Francisco. The transfer, it was alleged, made the Filipino workers ineligible for an upcoming set of promotions.

Complaints which he filed in response to the alleged discrimination factored into ill treatment soon after, the man claims, when Dumaguit submitted requests for workers' compensation benefits for depression and gout. Not only were those requests allegedly not honored, Dumaguit maintains that his employers refused to undertake any changes to his job that might allow him to keep working.

The worst slight of all, it appears, happened after he and a Filipino co-worker took disability leave. Dumaguit alleges that his supervisors posted their photos at the Richmond office akin to a "Wanted" display, in an effort to ensure that the two Filipinos would be duly prevented from entering the grounds.

When Dumaguit applied for disability retirement in 2004, which he claims he did reluctantly, Dumaguit maintains that the Postal service denied his application, and dismissed him instead—without benefits.

The unkindest cut of all was the award sent to him by the Postal service, a year after he was dismissed, lauding his 30 years of government service, including four years in the US Air Force.