LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) - A California man recently accused his former employer of discrimination and harassment over his disability.
James Parker filed a lawsuit against his former employer ManTech International claiming a company supervisor harassed him and removed accommodations put in place by ManTech for Parker due to his disability.
Parker was living in South Korea working for ManTech as a Blue Force Tracker instructor for Department of Defense personnel. In 2012, he injured his leg in a motorcycle accident, which left him with a permanent limp.
Initially, Parker said the company allowed him to work from home while he recovered, provided him with a handicap parking space and moved his office to the first floor.
After Michael Toney was promoted to a supervisor position, however, Parker claims some of those accommodations were taken away. In his complaint, Parker alleges Toney took away the handicap space and “made known his disdain and, at times, outright hostility toward Mr. Parker’s disability even before starting his new position.”
Parker said ManTech was aware of Toney actions, but did nothing to correct them. He also alleges the company fired him after he filed a False Claims Act report.
In 2013, Parker filed an official ethics complaint through ManTech’s online system claiming employees, including Toney, were using a vehicle leased by ManTech from the DoD for personal use. ManTech terminated Parker's employment nine days after he filed the complaint.
ManTech claimed the termination was due to a reduction in funding from its contract with the Department of Defense, he said.
Parker is represented by Travis M. Tatko of Shlansky Law Group in Palo Alto, Calif.
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California case number 5:14-cv-02301.