Trouble in Denton County?

Denton County Lawsuit over racial discrimination/harrassment in the DA's Office

A lawyer in the Denton County District Attorney’s Office has filed a racial discrimination suit against the county, the district attorney’s office and three lawyers in the office, alleging that their actions created a hostile work environment.

Denton attorney Bill Trantham, who represents lawyer Nadiya Williams-Boldware, filed the suit Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Sherman.

The suit alleges that lawyer Cary Piel made racially insulting remarks in Williams-Boldware’s presence; that his wife, Susan Piel, Williams-Boldware’s supervisor in the misdemeanor crimes section of the office, did not protect Williams-Boldware; and that Ryan Calvert, Susan Piel’s brother, later made remarks that harassed Williams-Boldware and contributed to a hostile work environment.
According to the lawsuit, Piel made the remarks April 2 while discussing a case he was prosecuting involving a black woman who was accused of drunkenly driving her car through a cemetery, destroying numerous gravestones. Police video showed that she fought with arresting officers and made racially insulting remarks to them.

According to the suit, Piel said he was enraged by what he saw on the tape. He said it made him “understand why people hung people from trees,” and that it made him “want to go home and put on his white, pointy hat.”

[First Assistant District Attorney Jamie] Beck said Cary Piel was disciplined for the remarks and that was documented in his personnel file. She said he was ordered to attend sensitivity classes, which he did.
“This needed to be addressed, and we did,” she said. “He needed to be disciplined, and he was. It was inappropriate, and we weren’t going to let it go. Had he bowed up in any way about the discipline or the class, he would have been terminated.” (Edit by KH: If you read the entire article, you see that the DA admits that the remarks were made and that the situation exists; however, they are saying that this is all about the reelection bid by DA Johnson. The effort to downplay this behavior is amazing to me.)

Trantham said Williams-Boldware has not received a proper apology.
“He didn’t mean it,” he said of the apology that Cary Piel gave. “He is a virulent racist.”
The suit alleges that after Piel took the course she overheard him make a reference to a “boombox” and state that if he was not careful he would have to take another sensitivity class.
The suit alleges that Williams-Boldware delivered a memo to Johnson, the district attorney, stating her allegations against Piel and that Johnson asked her to not give the memo to the county human resources department. She did go to the human resources department, according to the suit, but felt that she was not treated correctly there.
Beck denied that Johnson asked Williams-Boldware to not take the memo to the human resources office. Beck said that in deciding how to discipline Piel, the district attorney worked closely with the human resources department, asking for advice so it would be handled correctly.
The county took no further action against Piel. But Williams-Boldware was notified that Rentz also would be required to attend a sensitivity course.
At an office birthday party for Williams-Boldware, Calvert made the comment that he’d better leave or he’d be “going to one of those classes,” according to the suit. He was not disciplined.