Driver sues Avon Lake delivery company

Suit claims discrimination

An Avon Lake delivery company is being sued by a former driver on claims of wrongful racial discrimination and wrongful termination.

Guetawawende Ouedraogo, an African immigrant who lives in Cleveland Heights, filed the suit June 21 in Lorain County Common Pleas Court against Nyzak Delivery Inc., 712 Jockey’s Circle in Avon Lake, and its owner Isaac Tohme of Westlake.

According to the complaint, Ouedraogo began working for the company as a driver and courier in November 2014. It says during his employment with the company, he was under the supervision of an individual named Amer, whose last name is unknown, the suit says.

The filing said Amer and Tohme are of Middle Eastern descent and assigned favorable routes to Middle Eastern drivers.

Amer made multiple race-based comments about African Americans such as, “black people are so lazy,” and “black people don’t work, all they do is sell drugs,” the suit says.

Tohme would interrogate Ouedraogo about locking his truck at night saying he felt they were in more danger of being burglarized because Ouedraogo lives in a predominantly African American neighborhood, according to the suit.

It also says Tohme did not interrogate the Middle Eastern drivers about locking the doors on their trucks.

The complaint claims Tohme told his drivers to lie on their pre-inspection log books, and to mark all trucks as meeting Ohio Department of Transportation requirements even if there were dangerous problems with the truck; violating the department’s policies.

During his tenure with Nyzak, Ouedraogo inspected trucks with multiple hazardous problems including: bald tires, locked up brakes and poorly functioning transmissions, the suit claims.

Ouedraogo logged a mechanical issue with one of the trucks into Nyzak’s preinspection log book in January 2015 and was reprimanded by Tohme who told him to report any needed repairs verbally, according to the suit.

The filing claims Tohme did not repair the issues with the truck, and made it clear if Ouedraogo reported the issues to the Ohio Department of Transportation, he would be fired.

In November 2016, the brakes on the truck Ouedraogo was driving were in such disrepair he was forced to use the emergency brake to stop, the suit says. He said he informed Tohme verbally and writing about the issue and other hazardous issues, but no action was taken, the filing claims.

Ouedraogo was fired Dec. 23, 2016, allegedly for buying $9 worth of water and Red Bull on a company credit card, the suit says.

The filing claims it is common knowledge that Tohme tells his drivers to purchase water and other drinks as way of compensation for filling their trucks’ gasoline tanks. It claims most drivers for the company do so and are not terminated.

The lawsuit makes four claims for relief: race discrimination, national origin discrimination, violation of the Ohio whistle blower statute and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.

In a June 21 phone interview with The Morning Journal, Tohme, who said he had not seen the suit, suggested claims of racial or nation of origin discrimination are unfounded as he just hired his fourth West African driver.

Tohme said he fired Ouedraogo because he stole money from a company credit card given to his drivers to put gas in their trucks.

According to Tohme, Ouedraogo also crashed two trucks during his employment with the company and habitually drove over the speed limit while making deliveries.

“He never listened to me,” Tohme said. “When I’d ask him to do something, he was just doing his own thing at the job. And when I finally caught him stealing, that was the tipping point.”

According to the filing, Ouedraogo is seeking a permanent injunction against Nyzak to “abolish discrimination, harassment and retaliation,” as well as firing or demoting any supervisors who took part or failed to stop the discrimination.

It also requests Ouedraogo be restored to a position with the company and have his personnel file removed of any negative documentation in addition to compensatory damages in excess of $200,000 and punitive damages in excess of $25,000.