The Denver City and County Building lit up for the holidays. Nov. 16, 2016.
Kevin J. Beaty/Denverite
Austin Ray’s trouble started at the 2023 holiday office party.
A Department of Transportation and Infrastructure assistant manager named Carmen allegedly started grilling him about his relationship to Christmas.
“Don’t you believe in God?” Carmen asked.
Ray tried to get out of the conversation, which unfolded in front of two coworkers and his manager, but she kept pressing.
That’s according to an anti-discrimination lawsuit Ray filed in U.S. District Court. The City Attorney’s Office and DOTI declined to comment on the case. Ray and his attorney, David Meretta, also declined to comment on the case. Carmen’s full name was not included in the lawsuit.
Ray, an atheist, doesn’t believe in any gods and does not subscribe to any religious views. He found the conversation offensive and humiliating.
And he was troubled his manager did nothing to intervene, the lawsuit states.
So after the party, Ray followed city policy and reported what he viewed as discrimination and harassment to Denver’s human resources department. He also reached out to the director of Wastewater Operations.
After every conversation, the suit says, he was confident the situation was being addressed.
Then, about three months, after the holiday party, he was fired.
Looking back, Ray views the complaint as the ‘beginning of the end’ of his employment with the city.
The lawsuit alleges Ray’s manager began retaliating against him for the complaint: Changing his job duties, forcing him to do meaningless tasks, isolating him from coworkers, alienating him and compromising his ability to perform his job.
The manager “thereafter went to great lengths to make it appear that Mr. Ray was incapable of performing his job,” the lawsuit states.
On March 15, 2024, the city fired Ray. He was still waiting for a response to his complaints.
He had never received a write-up, a performance improvement plan or any discipline, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges the city discriminated against him because of his atheism and maliciously retaliated after he filed his complaint. It also alleges he was harassed based on his religion and suffered from a hostile work environment.
As a result, he’s lost his work and wages and suffered mental anguish and embarrassment when people ask about his employment.
His goal in the lawsuit: To recoup the money he lost when he was fired, receive additional compensation for the harm caused by the various claims, attorney’s fees, and more.
In his mid-January lawsuit, he asked for a jury trial. That has not happened. In mid-February, the city denied the allegations and asked for the court to dismiss the case. The judge has not decided.
