EXCLUSIVE: White Employee Sues Verizon After He’s Caught Using “N-Word” While Discussing DMX On Company Phone

A Caucasian man named Peter Kelly is suing Verizon for wrongful termination. Kelly, who worked for the company for more than 20 years, alleges management fired him in May 2021 for using the word “n-gga” while discussing DMX on a company phone. According to documents obtained by AllHipHop, Kelly is attempting to recover damages for Verizon’s “unlawful discrimination” against Kelly “in violation of the National Labor Relations Act.”

It continues: “This action also arises out of the breach by Plaintiff’s union, Defendant Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO (the ‘Union’), of the duty to provide fair representation, and of the breach by Plaintiff’s employer, Defendant Verizon New York Inc. (“Verizon”), of the collective bargaining agreement.”

As explained in the docs, Verizon hired Kelly as a Field Technician in 2000. After many years of exemplary employment, the native New Yorker says he was fired “without cause” following a conversation he had the month prior. Kelly says on April 6, 2021—three days before DMX died—he took a personal call while on his lunch break.

“In discussing DMX’s music Plaintiff used the word ‘n####,’ which is a word commonly used by the artist himself in his lyrics,” the docs read. “Unbeknownst to Plaintiff, he had inadvertently answered a call on his company cellular phone, and a Verizon employee who listened to his private call for approximately forty-five seconds overheard him say the word ‘n-gga.'”

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Subsequently, Kelly was suspended pending an internal investigation for discrimination and harassment. He was fired less than a month later for “for violating Verizon’s discrimination and harassment policy.” Kelly and his attorney argue, “Despite this alleged zero-tolerance policy, certain employees routinely use words like ‘b####,’ ‘c###,’ ‘n-gger,’ ‘n-gga’ and ‘s###’ in the workplace.

“Such language is used in the presence of management-level employees, yet when it is used by a female employee, an African American employee, and/or a Hispanic employee, none is reprimanded or disciplined in any way.”

As a result, Kelly is seeking ” all forms of relief recoverable under the statutes sued hereunder including compensatory damages, back pay, and reinstatement; an award of statutory attorneys’ fees; a judicial declaration that the Union, by virtue of its conduct, is precluded from representing Plaintiff’s interests, and Plaintiff is therefore entitled to pursue all rights in this Court in his own place and stead; an award of pre-judgment interest and costs; and such further and additional relief as the Court deems just and proper.”