An Austell man is suing the golf course that fired him for racial discrimination, saying the club’s management told him he was ineligible for benefits that were available to white employees.
Marion Whitt, a 40-year-old black man, had been working as a caddie at Peachtree Golf Club in Brookhaven for 20 years when he was terminated, the lawsuit said. The suit, filed in federal court, alleges Whitt’s managers told him he was ineligible for worker’s compensation after he injured his foot during a golf tournament, even though Whitt’s white co-workers were eligible.
Whitt said that when he disputed the managers’ decision, the club’s head greenskeeper interjected, telling Whitt, “[You] are ungrateful people”— a statement Whitt believed was a reference to African-Americans. He has also accused the club of religious discrimination, saying his supervisor told him to “get off this property and pray somewhere else” when Whitt tried to pray on his break.
The suit also accuses Peachtree Golf Club of failing to compensate Whitt for overtime work and maintenance duties he performed, for which he was often paid in cash and not given income or tax records. White employees, the suit alleges, were provided with the proper records, but when Whitt asked general manager Wiley Haab for tax records related to his employment at the golf club, Haab fired Whitt and called police.
He is now suing Peachtree Golf Club and the club’s general manager, Wiley Haab, for violating the Civil Rights Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
“While employed [by the golf club], Whitt was forced to endure, because of his race, a hostile work environment, where Whitt was subjected to disciplinary and corrective action and frequently forced to endure inflammatory remarks, harassment, intimidation and humiliation without any legitimate basis,” the suit reads.
A lawyer representing Peachtree Golf Club and Haab said he “denies the allegations in their entirety.”
Haab’s account of the termination differs from the Whitt’s. According to the report Haab filed with police, Whitt came to the club “disgruntled due to lack of work,” and began yelling at Haab. Whitt was given a criminal trespass warning and told to leave the property.
Haab told police Whitt worked as a subcontractor, carrying golfers’ bags for a fee, but was never directly employed by the golf club.
