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Secretary sues Youngstown, claiming discrimination
YOUNGSTOWN
A Youngstown law- department secretary is suing the city for racial and disability discrimination claiming officials wouldn’t accommodate her work schedule while she was being treated for cancer because she’s black.
The lawsuit filed by an attorney representing Debra J. Byrd, the secretary, claims the unfair treatment was in retaliation for her support of Bassil Ally, an assistant city prosecutor who is Muslim and is suing the city for religious discrimination.
After refusing to sign an affidavit in September 2008 supporting the city against Ally, Byrd “experienced retaliation in the form of unwarranted complaints about her work and reprimands,” reads the lawsuit, filed by her attorney, Robert B. Kapitan of Brooklyn Heights.
City Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello, Byrd’s boss, said she was “stunned” by the racial-discrimination allegation.
“I categorically deny she was discriminated by the city in any fashion,” Guglucello said.
Byrd was diagnosed with cancer May 15, 2009, and was off the job until Sept. 1 of that year. After returning to the city, she had to undergo chemotherapy, which required her to take some time off work for a couple of months, according to the lawsuit filed in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
The day after her return, Byrd said Guglucello told her because she couldn’t work a full 40-hour workweek, she would have to take a part-time job or an unpaid leave of absence, the lawsuit reads. Either way, she would lose her health- care benefits.
Byrd’s lawsuit contends she was denied the chance to use advance sick and vacation time that would allow her to remain a full-time employee and that three white employees were permitted to use advance sick time in 2009.
Byrd was placed on part-time status Sept. 8, 2009, until she was reinstated to her full-time job in January 2010 with full medical coverage a month later.
During the time she was demoted to part-time status, Byrd had to pay for her own medical insurance.
Byrd is seeking at least $50,000 from the city, according to the lawsuit.
She “suffered emotional distress, humiliation, embarrassment, loss of reputation, loss of self-esteem, lost wages and income, lost opportunities and other benefits and damages,” her lawsuit reads.
Byrd made $32,432 in base-pay salary in 2008, $29,486 in 2009, and $32,879 in 2010, according to city payroll records.
Meanwhile, Ally’s case in U.S. District Court, filed in May 2009, is still active after mediation failed Feb. 28.
Ally contends city workers made a concerted effort to harass him and keep him from practicing his religious beliefs as well as creating a hostile work environment. City officials have denied Ally’s claims.