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A Black man claims he was fired from his job after reporting his co-worker for naming a "monkey doll" after him, according to a newly-filed federal lawsuit. The Kansas City Star reports that Caleb Ferguson taking his former employer, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, to court for racial discrimination and retaliation.
The lawsuit said the series of events started on March 20, 2023. Ferguson was working in the transport unit of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center when he came across one of his co-workers, described as a white woman in her late 50s to early 60s. The co-worker would often knit at work, and when asked what she was working on, she said, "I'm making a monkey," the filing alleges. The woman reportedly held up the doll and said, "Look, it’s Caleb," in front of other employees.
Ferguson said he was stunned as nobody reprimanded the woman for her comments. A week later, the doll-knitting co-worker held up the completed monkey and told more employees including his supervisor, "Everyone meet Caleb."
"I felt very disrespected when my co-worker made the comments," Ferguson told reporters. "I felt even worse when she doubled down on them."
When the Black man reported the incident to the supervisor and explained how monkey is a “well-known and disgusting racial slur,” the supervisor allegedly said he would "handle" the situation. The lawsuit alleges the co-worker was never disciplined for her actions.
On April 2, Ferguson argued with another co-worker over the monkey doll incident. The argument led to the supervisor calling security on the Black man and getting suspended from work. Days later, Ferguson learned he was fired from his job.
He believes it was retaliation for pushing back against his co-worker's racial comments.
“They used that rule to fire me without a real reason so it wouldn’t look retaliatory, but I reported the incident to HR on a Friday (this was after I reported the incident to my supervisor multiple weeks prior) and was fired the following Monday," Ferguson said, per the newspaper.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the employer.
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