Fired For Missing His Own Birthday Party?

MARSHALL, Texas – A longtime employee says the City of Huntington fired him on the pretext that he missed his own birthday party at the office. Theodore Lopez says he “was attending a visitation at a local funeral home with his wife.” Lopez claims the city actually fired him because he is Latino.     In his federal complaint, Lopez, a machine operator, claims Huntington needed to reduce its budget and selected him because of his Mexican ancestry, rather than firing a white man with less seniority and experience.     Lopez claims that three white city employees also missed the birthday party, but none were fired or disciplined for it.     Lopez seeks reinstatement, lost wages and punitive damages for racial discrimination, national origin discrimination and civil rights violations.     He is represented by Warren McCollum with Fenley Bate of Lufkin.