EUGENE, Ore. -- A black custodian who spent 12 years working for the city of Eugene claims he was a victim of racial discrimination in a federal lawsuit filed against the city and two of his former supervisors.

kgw.com graphic

Wendell Butler was fired in May of 2007, after spending a dozen years working at the Hult Center and the Eugene library.

In his lawsuit, first reported by the Register-Guard newspaper, Butler claims that he was "continuously discriminated against" by the city of Eugene and its employees. He seeks unspecified lost wages and non-economic damages.

Jens Schmidt, a city attorney who will handle the case,told the newspaper that he has yet to discuss it with city officials.

Butler's suit claims that his requests for a lead custodial position were repeatedly denied; that he was told he could not apply for a full-time job because he was considered a permanent part-time employee; and that he was treated differently than his white co-workers. For example, Butler claims he wasn't given permission to work a second job, and was evaluated differently than white co-workers.

He is also charging that supervisors made discriminatory comments in a quarterly review. The comments included a prediction that there would be no more "blue-eyed, blond-haired" people in the future and disparaging remarks about homosexuals and a Hispanic employee who had difficulty reading English, Butler alleges.

And he says one of his bosses likened Butler to King Kong when he adjusted the height of his chair during a meeting.

"King Kong is a big, black gorilla, and plaintiff was extremely offended by the reference," according to the suit.

Butler claims he was demoted to lead custodian, and investigated for allegedly sleeping on duty, failing to report damaging a library bookshelf and his computer usage at work.

He charges that he was fired in May 2007 despite not receiving a performance evaluation since 2000.