Employment & Labor Law
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St. Louis v. Sands
2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28915
In St. Louis, the plaintiff was an African-American employee working as an Associate Controller of Contracts and Grants at the Florida International University (FIU). Sands was the CEO of the Hemispheric Center for Environmental Technology (HCET) at FIU. St. Louis at 2.
The plaintiff alleged that while he was employed at FIU, he informed his supervisors of several federal guideline violations. He said he attempted to bring changes to the Sponsored Research Dept and bring HCET into compliance. Id.
FIU was undergoing a federal audit from early 2000 to mid- 2004. The plaintiff was even called to testify before the US Dept. Of Justice regarding the problems FIU was having. Eventually, the Federal Government fined FIU eleven million dollars. St. Louis at 3.
Afterwards, plaintiff's department was transferred to the Academic Affairs/Sponsored Research section at FIU, where the defendant became the plaintiff's direct supervisor. The defendant had plaintiff transferred to his division, where he was later told that the plaintiff's actions had hurt FIU's defense against the findings of the Dept. Of Health and Human Services audit. St. Louis at 3-4.
Shortly after, plaintiff was informed that the defendant decided to terminate plaintiff's position. He was told it was due to the negative reaction to the investigation and the university needed to look for more qualified employees for that department. St. Louis at 4.
The plaintiff eventually left his post stating that he needed to think about his future and family's financial security. He filed a two count complaint. Count 1 was violation of 42 USC 1981; the 2nd count was a violation of 42 USC 1983
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