A terminated Commonwealth Utilities Corp. employee is suing the agency in federal court, saying he was subjected to a hostile work place, such as placing a cockroach on his desk and other employees calling him \u201cgay.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zaji O. Zajradhara is suing CUC, executive director Allan Fletcher, and 10 unnamed co-defendants for whistleblower\/wrongful termination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/p>\n
In a complaint he filed without a lawyer, Zajradhara is demanding unspecified damages and court costs.<\/p>\n
Saipan Tribune tried to obtain comments from Fletcher but he had yet to reply as of press time.<\/p>\n
Zajradhara said that CUC initially hired him as a trades technician\/operator in October 2012, but he was moved into various positions, including warehouse man, fuel handler, and troubleshooter for the Water Division.<\/p>\n
He said that CUC terminated him on Oct. 24, 2014, on the pretext that he had been caught in possession of illegal drugs, in violation of CUC drug and alcohol policy.<\/p>\n
Zajradhara said he became aware of various violations of public policies, laws, regulations, and policies committed by the defendants during his employment.<\/p>\n
One was misuse of federal funds by diverting federal money out of programs it had been granted for to cover other CUC expenses, he said.<\/p>\n
He said he complained to Fletcher and others at CUC regarding these violations but, instead, the executive director allowed a hostile work place to develop to try to force him to quit.<\/p>\n
Zajradhara said a racially offensive poster was installed in the workplace, a cockroach was put on his desk, and employees called him \u201cgay\u201d and other slurs.<\/p>\n
The plaintiff said he complained of mistreatment to Fletcher and other management officials, but the complaints were ignored.<\/p>\n
He said when he refused to quit his job, the defendants attempted to terminate him on the pretext that he had hit a co-worker. Zajradhara said his termination failed because it was established that the allegation of assault was untrue.<\/p>\n
He said the defendants succeeded in terminating him on Oct. 24, 2014, by accusing him of trying to sell marijuana to an off-duty police officer. He said the defendants knew the allegation lacked merit but seized upon it to justify his termination.<\/p>\n
Zajradhara also claimed he suffers from disability as he has post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and an injury on his right shoulder and upper back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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