Gregg Woodworth may not look like who you would expect to file a lawsuit claiming racial discrimination. He’s a 55-year-old white man who likes to ride his Harley. But he says the color of his skin is ultimately why he ended up losing his job as a Mascotte Police officer.
Rolando Banasco was promoted to police chief in early 2012. Woodworth was second-in-command, as his lieutenant.
“He flexed his arms in front of me and told me he could now start making room for Spanish speaking officers, and he immediately started going after Caucasian officers,” Woodworth said.
Attorney Eric Frommer now represents five former Mascotte officers, all white, who say they were either terminated because of their race, or finally quit their jobs because of harassment.
He said when he filed the first claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission they weren’t even sure if they could accept it, because claims of racial discrimination against Caucasians are so rare.
They’ve yet to rule on the claims, so Woodworth and another officer have filed suit against the City of Mascotte, which he said knew about the discrimination but did nothing.
“I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be involved in a civil suit in discrimination against me," Woodworth said.
Woodworth said he went on Family Medical Leave because of stress from what he called bogus discipline and unreasonable job requests.
Two weeks later he said the agency collected his police car, and told him if he ever returned to Mascotte property he’d be arrested for trespassing.
Now Woodworth works doing the closest thing he can find to law enforcement, loss prevention.
“It ruined my career, it ruined my reputation and what they did was wrong,” Woodworth said.
Chief Banasco said he wasn’t sure about the racial makeup of his 12-member police force right now. He said he couldn't comment on the lawsuit, and said all comments would have to come from attorneys hired by the city to handle the case. Those attorneys said they also had no comment.
Mascotte City Manager Jim Gleason said he’s pleased with Chief Banasco’s performance.
"Every day he’s on the job, I become more confident I did the right thing recommending his promotion," Gleason said.