Second Waste Management employee in Topeka files race discrimination lawsuit
Another employee with Waste Management in Kansas claims he encountered racism at the company, making it the second lawsuit filed against the agency in the past four months.
Kauli Saili, who is Pacific Islander, filed the federal lawsuit Thursday. He has been employed with the Waste Management since 2016.
In November, Robert Smith, a former lead heavy equipment operator at the company’s location in Topeka, filed a lawsuit claiming he was subjected to racial harassment, including working for a supervisor who played racially derogatory videos.
“As this is a pending legal issue, Waste Management of Kansas, Inc. is unable to provide comments,” Paul Howe, a company spokesman, said in an email.
Both men are represented by attorney Alan Johnson. The two worked together after Saili was transferred to Waste Management’s Rolling Meadows location in Topeka, according to court records.
Smith, a Black man, worked as the lead heavy equipment operator.
Saili, who is also a heavy equipment operator, claims he was routinely asked to work after 3 p.m. while white heavy equipment operators were not, according to the lawsuit.
The new lawsuit mentions an incident described in Smith’s complaint where a racist note was taped to his work locker during the 2020 presidential election.
The document said: “Give a black man a fish and he will eat for a day. Give a black man a free cell phone, food stamps, section 8 housing, a six pack of beer and he’ll vote Democrat the rest of his life,” the lawsuit said.
Smith was fired in May 2021. He claims he was dismissed after he and another coworker, who is white, were involved in an accident with a compacter.
According to court records, both Smith and the other employee saw no damage to the operating equipment and kept working. They did not file an incident report. After an investigation was conducted, his supervisor and regional supervisor fired him, but not his coworker.
After Smith left, Saili told supervisors he was interested in becoming the lead heavy equipment manager. But the job was not posted nor was anyone given the chance to submit applications, the lawsuit said.
Supervisors promoted Keith Cain to the position at the end of May 2021. Cain, who is white, had only worked at the location for one year and had been trained by Saili. At one point, Cain told Saili he was more qualified for the job, the lawsuit said.
Cain then told Saili that the reason he was not promoted was because Saili was out on family and medical leave too often, according to court records.
The lawsuit says Saili started going on leave “on a continuous basis because of stress-related issues” after Cain was promoted. The lawsuit claims Saili was retaliated against, but should have been protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Saili is asking for at least $100,000 in damages and a jury trial.
This story was originally published February 11, 2022 at 11:37 AM.
