Man sues employer over discriminatory native language policy

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A Florida man is accusing his former employer of firing him in retaliation for objecting to a racially discriminatory policy.

Plaintiff Armani Ruiz, a Puerto Rican American, filed his lawsuit Feb. 3 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.

He alleges defendant Downtown Pet Hospital – referred to as DPH in the complaint – informed him and other Spanish-speaking employees in September 2023 that they could no longer speak their native language at work.

“DPH offered no explanation for imposing this discriminatory policy directed at its Hispanic employees due to their ethnic characteristics,” the nine-page complaint states.

Ruiz worked for DPH, located in Orange County, as an hourly-paid employee from April 8, 2022 until his termination on Oct. 12, 2023.

Ruiz claims in his filing that he told DPH’s owner, Ann Christine McCulley, that the edict was discriminatory and made him “extremely uncomfortable.”.

Ruiz alleges he asked McCulley for an opportunity to discuss the new policy. Instead of addressing his objection, McCulley, along with Ruiz’s manager, Kiersten, informed him that his employment had been terminated, effective immediately.

“As reasoning for his termination DPH vaguely stated that Mr. Ruiz was not ‘following the policies,’” the complaint states. “Neither Ms. McCulley nor Kiersten specified which policy had been violated by Plaintiff when the violation occurred, or the nature of the violation.”

Ruiz notes that he had never been “written up” or disciplined while at DPH.

“It is clear that DPH discriminated against Mr. Ruiz based on race and ethnic characteristics (such as language) and terminated his employment in retaliation for his objections to the discrimination,” his filing states. “Any other reason theorized by DPH is mere pretext.”

He argues DPH did not have a good faith basis for its actions, nor did it have a legitimate, non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reason.

“The temporal proximity between Plaintiff’s objections to Defendant’s illegal conduct, or what Plaintiff reasonably believed to be illegal conduct, and his termination, is sufficiently close to create the necessary temporal nexus between the events,” the complaint states.

Ruiz alleges that as a result of DPH’s termination, he has suffered “severe” emotional distress, including sleeplessness, “crippling” anxiety, loss of consortium, and family discord.

He seeks damages including back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages, declaratory relief, and attorneys’ fees.

Richard Celler Legal PA in Plantation, Florida, is representing Ruiz in the action.