A former receptionist for a New York nursing home is suing the provider for $1.2 million, claiming he was fired from his job for being gay and Hispanic.
Albert Nieto began working at Pelham Parkway Nursing Care and Rehabilitation Facility in New York City in 2010. Other staff members allegedly began using homophobic slurs toward him roughly two years after he began working there, according to the New York Daily News.
Nieto complained of the harassment to the facility’s director of nursing, who allegedly “supported the discriminatory conduct” instead of correcting it, Nieto’s lawsuit claims. The director of nursing allegedly told Nieto that “he would be dead if he was in Russia” where she was from, and spread rumors about him dating another gay employee.
Nieto was fired in May 2015, which he claims was an outgrowth of his alleged discrimination and harassment. His lawsuit seeks at least $1.2 million in damages.
In a statement released to the New York Daily News, Pelham denied Nieto’s allegations, saying “there is absolutely no merit to the unfounded allegations in the complaint and we intend to defend against this vigorously.”
