New York residents who have been following AT&T’s acquisition of DirecTV may be interested to learn that AT&T’s former content president filed a wrongful discrimination lawsuit against the company. In the lawsuit, he claimed that he was fired so that a discrimination lawsuit that had been filed against him would not affect the $48.5 billion merger.
In 2013, he was accused of sending a text that allegedly included a picture of a black child dancing with a racial slur written on it. An executive assistant then saw the text when she was transferring data. She filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that she had experienced racial discrimination. After she was moved to a different department, an internal investigation revealed that she had not. The former president stated that he had offered to resign; however, AT&T promised him that he would not be terminated for this event.
The AT&T and DirecTV merger was announced in May 2014. His former assistant allegedly sent the text to his new assistant who then filed a lawsuit against the company and several executives. The former president was then fired the day after this lawsuit was filed, even though the 2013 incident had been resolved.
When employees have evidence that they were wrongfully terminated over an incident that was fully resolved or in violation of the terms of an existing employment agreement, they may want to meet with an attorney in order to see what recourse they may have. After a review of the situation, the attorney might find it advisable to file a lawsuit seeking appropriate damages.
Source: Deadline, “Former AT&T Content President Files Wrongful Termination Suit, Claims He Was Fired To Save DirecTV Merger“, David Robb, Jan. 24, 2017