WEST POINT — Another complaint has been added to the growing pile of current and potential legal actions against the city of West Point.
Joni Lofton, a former acting office manager at the West Point Water and Light Department, filed a complaint April 9 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging racial discrimination at the hands of the majority black West Point Board of Selectmen. Lofton is white.
Lofton”s complaint joins existing EEOC complaints by dismissed Electric Department Superintendent Shasta Plunkett and four current and former West Point Police Department officers, both white and black. Former Police Chief Steve Bingham filed suit May 5 in U.S. District Court alleging racial discrimination in his Aug. 11, 2009 firing.
The latest complaint alleges the board refused to consider Lofton for the position of office manager after Jan Wray retired in January, instead hiring Theresa Moore, a black woman. Lofton claims her four years of experience made her the “logical choice for the job.” She accuses the board of attempting to fill as many government positions as possible with black employees.
Furthermore, Lofton claims she was ordered to train the new office manager and has been issued “baseless” discipline referrals for “(acting) improperly in not training her for the job.”
“The fact that she requires to be trained for the job is, itself, proof of discrimination. The new office manager continuously harasses me over trivial matters, and this harassment is based upon race,” reads Lofton”s complaint.
The EEOC investigates complaints for six months before deciding whether to allow further legal action. Plunkett”s complaint was filed Feb. 2 and three of the four police officers” complaints were filed Jan. 22.
Romelle Matthews, former WPPD assistant chief under Bingham”s tenure, filed his complaint Jan. 5.
Bingham filed an EEOC complaint sometime in 2009 and received a letter April 13, 2010, “granting him the right to sue the city of West Point for wrongful discharge under federal law.”
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