Former employee cites racism and retaliation in lawsuit Macon Water Authority
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- Former operator alleges racial bias and retaliation led to his termination by MWA
- Lawsuit cites unreported 2022 wastewater spill and improper disciplinary actions
- Clark claims MWA ignored complaints while punishing him for protected activities
A former employee of the Macon Water Authority alleges in a lawsuit that he was fired in retaliation after complaining about one of the director’s behavior toward him, according to federal court records.
Thaddus Clark, a Black operator, filed a lawsuit against the authority on May 23 in Bibb County Superior Court, saying he experienced a pattern of racial discrimination and retaliation against him from the director of the MWA.The lawsuit was moved to federal court on Tuesday because of claims that the MWA violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the Georgia Whistleblower Act, according to court records.
Clark, who had worked at the MWA since 2013, alleges that the director maintained a “hostile demeanor” toward him, but not toward white employees, the lawsuit states.
The director is not being sued.
“(The director) was overly critical and scrutinizing of Mr. Clark’s work, but she did not similarly monitor, scrutinize, or criticize the work of white employees under her supervision,” according to the lawsuit.
Clark is seeking a jury trial, declaratory judgment against the authority and damages.
Representatives of the MWA have not responded to requests for comment.
Director responded aggressively to Clark
Clark began experiencing issues with the director in 2022, with the earliest incident recorded in the lawsuit being when Clark had backed an MWA vehicle into a pole, causing $3,526 in damages, according to the suit. The director issued him a three-day suspension, according to the suit.
However, nine months later, the suit states the director caused a similar accident in the same truck and $6,000 in damages. She was suspended for one day rather than three days, as was the suspension Clark was issued.
Later, on Nov. 11, 2022, Clark was sent to the authority’s facility in Rocky Creek, which had experienced a spill that “resulted in wastewater solids overflowing into the plant’s effluent discharge system, polluting the Ocmulgee River and its tributaries,” according to the lawsuit. Clark argued that the on-duty operator from the previous night could have prevented or mitigated the spill, but he had left work to go home and sleep.
The MWA’s facilities operate with a permit from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, which advises them to report spills that reach a specific volume. But even though Rocky Creek’s spill from November 2022 had exceeded the minimum reporting requirement — and Clark had sent his higher-ups pictures and videos of the spill — the MWA “did not follow proper reporting protocols” and failed to report the spill, according to the lawsuit.
The director would encourage Clark’s white colleagues to ignore smaller, accidental spills in the facility, “thereby leaving it for Mr. Clark to clean up on his shift,” the lawsuit said.
Clark was transferred to the Lower Poplar facility to fill in for another colleague who was on medical leave on Aug. 13, 2023, where he identified several issues that violated law, rules and regulations with the Georgia EPD that would render that facility non-compliant. He circulated an email among the employees at the MWA and drafted “a corrective action plan to address them and bring (the authority) into compliance with its Georgia EPD permit,” according to the lawsuit.
However, the director’s response was “aggressive, demeaning and evidenced her hostility toward his protected activity in recording and reporting current and impending permit non-compliance and violations of the EPA law, rules or regulations,” the lawsuit said.
Two white colleagues had filed complaints against Clark for watching a sermon on his phone while on break and the director suspended him for three weeks and said he would be terminated for alleged willful neglect of duties, all the while “various white employees used MWA vehicles to store loaded firearms, maintain deer feeders and illegally hunt deer on the property adjacent to a MWA plant,” the lawsuit said.
Clark should ‘plan on retiring before something bad happens’
As a result of the complaint from both colleagues, Clark appealed the suspension and formally complained to the president of the MWA about the director’s behavior, explaining that he believed the director “solicited the complaints from other MWA employees against him in retaliation for his reporting and recording of permit noncompliance and violations of the EPA,” the lawsuit said.
Clark was given a hearing on Sept. 11, 2023, where he complained that the director was disproportionately disciplining him compared to his white colleagues who have also reported non-compliance.
He also mentioned the spill from November 2022, to which the director replied that she had not remembered it, but admitted that “’sometimes the plant gets away from us’ and that ‘it was not the first time it happened.’”
Clark’s suspension was lifted on Dec. 18, 2023, but he was not compensated for the three weeks of work he missed.
He met with the human resources department regarding his complaint against the director on Dec. 27, 2023, where he complained to them about the result of his annual review, where the director “included several negative and baseless criticisms,” which Clark argues were also made in retaliation against him, according to the lawsuit. While the HR members reassured him that his complaint was being investigated, one of them mentioned to him that if she were Clark, she “would plan on retiring before something unfortunate happens,” the lawsuit said.
What led up to his termination
Clark was working with three white colleagues and two white contractors on a pump installation on April 4, 2024, and when one of the technicians inspected the pump and turned it on, he informed Clark that it was fine to keep running. Several hours later, the director told him to work at a different section of the facility, “far away from the pump,” according to the lawsuit.
The pump failed that evening, the lawsuit said, and upon further inspection, the “pump’s intake valve had been closed, causing it to overheat and burn out,” the lawsuit said. Immediately, Clark began to worry that he would be blamed by the director for the pump failure, even though five other white colleagues worked on the installation, according to the suit.
A little over a month later, Clark submitted a request to his director for temporary medical leave for a surgery on his disabling foot conditions that significantly limited his mobility. Around that same time, he asked the HR department for the status of his complaint and reminded them of the retaliation from the director.
He was terminated on June 7, 2024, four days after his last complaint about retaliation was made and less than two weeks after requesting temporary leave for surgery, according to the lawsuit. Though the reason for his termination was due to the destruction of the pump, none of his white colleagues involved in the pump installation that day were terminated.
“MWA’s actions in discriminating against Mr. Clark because of his disability and refusing to accommodate his disability were committed with deliberate intent to harm Mr. Clark and his federally protected rights,” the lawsuit said. “Or, alternatively, with reckless disregard for his rights to be free from discrimination because of his disability and to receive reasonable accommodation for his disability.”
This lawsuit represents one side of the story. The MWA has not filed a legal reply to the accusations as of June 26.
