ELIZABETHTOWN, Lancaster County — A former human resources manager at an Elizabethtown-based insulation company is suing the business for racial discrimination, saying he was fired for refusing to fire a black employee, according to court documents.
Christopher Shaffer, of Middletown, is suing Appalachian Insulation Supply in U.S. District Court, Eastern District, documents show. In the lawsuit, Shaffer says the company violated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which prohibits “discrimination because of race, color, religious creed, ancestry, age or national origin.”
He’s asking a jury to award him $400,000 in compensatory damages and $50,000 in back pay, plus punitive damages and attorney fees, court documents say.
According to the lawsuit, Shaffer worked at the company as human resources manager from August 2014 to December 2015. The suit alleges that shortly after his hiring, Shaffer learned that the company’s CEO, William Brinser Jr., “refused to permit people of color to be employed by the company” and described black and Hispanic people with derogatory terms.
In December 2015, the complaint states, a black driver was hired at the company’s South Carolina branch. While the driver passed all pre-employment tests, Brinser directed Shaffer to fire him for no reason “other than the color of his skin,” according to the complaint.
Brinser’s conduct “was outrageous and cannot be tolerated in a civilized society,” according to the complaint.
