PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — Petersburg Mayor W. Howard Myers says in a lawsuit that his former employer, Virginia Supportive Housing, fired him because he was “too black.”
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports (http://bit.ly/2aqWw8M) that in the lawsuit filed last month, Myers is claiming a violation of Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of several factors, including race.
Myers worked as a housing specialist for the VSH for two years until being terminated in May 2014. The lawsuit says that the nonprofit’s “white female leadership” complained about Myers wearing a “hoody and jeans,” to a meeting, “even though other people at the meeting were wearing jeans.”
According to the lawsuit, the nonprofit’s complaint was about Myers “essentially, looking ‘too black.'”
Myers and VSH executive director Allison Bogdanovic declined to comment.
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Information from: Richmond Times-Dispatch, http://www.timesdispatch.com
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