BOSTON (Legal Newsline) - Tyrone Stokley filed a complaint on September 10 in Massachusetts' Suffolk County Superior Court against Keolis Commuter Rail Services, LLC for race discrimination.
According to the complaint, Stokley, an African-American male, worked for Keolis Commuter Rail Services, LLC for 17 years. Stokley began his employment on July 1, 2004 as a conductor and was in good standing with Smart Union, a subsidiary of the United Transportation Union.
During his 17 years of employment, he only had one minor incident or attendance issue, the suit says. On Sept. 11, 2017, Stokley was seriously injured at work and required surgery and physical therapy before returning to work, the suit says.
On Aug. 10, 2018, Stokley went to trial on two OUI charges and Stokley asked that his future wife contact his ex-wife and co-worker to let his employer know of the situation, the suit says.
Keolis claims it was never contacted and terminated Stokely on Sept. 18, 2018, stating that the termination was "self-executing". On Oct. 11, 2018, management received a letter from the union to appeal the termination, and Stokley claims that Keolis continued to discriminate against him and would not give him his job back. Other employees in similar positions that were white were given their jobs back and were made to go to rehab, but Stokley claims that he was not given these options due to his race.
Stokley seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages, attorney's fees, statutory damages and cost of suit. Stokley is represented by Wendy A. Kaplan.
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Suffolk Superior Court civil action number 21-2082F