New Hyde Park, New York (PRWEB) September 26, 2017
In an ongoing, seventeen-month-long case alleging promotion discrimination based on race, gender and age; as well as retaliation for filing a prior discrimination complaint, Vernon O’Garra, an employee for nearly 13 years at Long Island Jewish Hospital located in New Hyde Park, New York, alleged in his court documents that his employer failed to promote him and other African-American employees to management positions even though they were more qualified than the non-African-American employees promoted.
According to the allegations of the federal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York, Northwell Health violated O’Garra’s civil rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination Act of 1967. The complaint alleges that the hiring managers intentionally overlooked his superior paper qualifications and experience as an Access Services Representative to hire an employee with less qualifications and experience in the position.
According to court documents he applied for promotions between 2006 and 2008 and was denied each time. The document further states that these denials prompted O’Garra to file a discrimination complaint at the New York State Division of Human Rights (NYSDHR). According to allegations in the complaint, even after the NYSDHR determined that the investigation supported O’Garra’s claim of unlawful discriminatory practices, LIJ continued to deny him several more promotions in the same department he worked for 13 years. O’Garra further alleged in the complaint that he was more qualified than the employees that were promoted and he alleged that LIJ passed him over for those jobs in retaliation for receiving a financial settlement for his prior filing with the NYSDHR.
O’Garra alleged in his court documents that LIJ’s promotion decisions were unlawful and blames Northwell Health, Inc. for his decision to resort to seeking employment outside of Northwell rather than continuing his employment at LIJ. O’Garra wrote in his federal complaint that subsequent to his resignation, O’Garra was hired at another company as a Supervisor of Patient Access Services, the same position he claims he previously applied at Northwell Health, Inc.
O’Garra is litigating this discrimination case in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of New York, Docketed as 16 cv 2191 and is represented by Jerry Graves of J. Graves Associates, 212 361-9399.