A new lawsuit is alleging that a manager for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) repeatedly boasted that he would get his Hispanic employees kicked out of the country once President Donald Trump built his border wall.
The Sacramento Bee reports that 28-year-old SMUD employee Diane Clark is suing the electricity provider because her boss, a man named James Leigh-Kendall, repeatedly made racists remarks about her and other Hispanic employees.
According to the lawsuit, Leigh-Kendall would regularly say things such as, "I'd build a wall and throw (Clark) and other Hispanic SMUD employees over the wall."
The lawsuit also claims that Leigh-Kendall talked with female employees about his sexual fantasies, regularly commented on their appearances, and even once said, "women should be in the home barefoot and pregnant."
Additionally, Clark claims that she was demoted and lost $20,000 in pay because Leigh-Kendall retaliated against her for filing a complaint about his behavior.
A SMUD spokesperson tells the Sacramento Bee that the company "generally denies" the allegations made against one of its managers, but it would not comment further on any other details.
Anthony Perez Jr., the attorney representing Clark, drew a direct line from Trump's racist campaign rhetoric and the treatment his client received.
"We now see Trump’s racist comments about Mexican employees and building a wall being repeated by management of a California employer," he said. "This cannot and will not be tolerated in California."
