Discrimination cited in lawsuit by NLV worker

A North Las Vegas utilities employee has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that he faced discrimination based on race and disability over the past two years.

In the lawsuit filed Sept. 6, Garry Golding alleged he has lost out on two job promotions within the city’s utilities department and was harassed by his employers because he is black and suffers from sleep apnea.

Golding is seeking an unspecified amount of money for attorney’s fees, economic loss, emotional stress, humiliation and mental anguish.

North Las Vegas city spokeswoman Delen Goldberg said the city’s attorneys have not been served with the complaint. Golding’s lawyer, Melanie Hill, could not be reached for comment.

Golding, a water systems operator who has worked for the city for 11 years, alleged that he was denied a promotion in August 2015 as a utilities operations manager and another promotion in July 2016 as a water systems supervisor.

Both times, the suit alleges, the jobs were given to white colleagues who did not possess the necessary certification.

Golding’s lawsuit also claims that he was asked to undergo a medical examination for nodding off during a training session, even though another city employee who fell asleep at work was not asked to visit a doctor.

The lawsuit further alleges that Golding was harassed, heavily scrutinized and held to different performance standards after he complained to the city’s human resources department and filed a grievance with the employee’s union.

Golding filed a complaint in April with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The case was dismissed in June, when the commission was unable to determine whether the city violated any laws.