By Peter Hayes, Bloomberg Law (January 12, 2021 14:59 PM) —
The Archdiocese of New York was hit with a proposed civil rights class action alleging it racially discriminated by firing all Hispanic employees of the Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family, according to filings in a Manhattan federal court.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges violations of federal, state and municipal civil rights laws.
The former employees also allege that the Archdiocese failed to pay them severance after firing them, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and New York Labor Law.
The plaintiffs, who were custodial staff at the church, allege that Hispanic construction workers and a Hispanic office manager were also fired between February and July 2020.
When parishioners complained to Father John Kinda, the complaint alleges, he told them “with one call, the Hispanic people will be gone from the St. Joseph Church.”
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The article first appeared on the Bloomberg Law’s Daily Labor Report.