Orlando city employee claims supervisor said ‘These old white men need to die'

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An employee for the city of Orlando claims that his black supervisor pointed at him and said, "These old white men need to die and get out of the way."

The man, who worked in the human resources office, has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against his employer.

The human relations office is responsible for investigating claims of discrimination in areas like employment and housing. But the office, which is based in city hall, is facing accusations from one of its own investigators.

David Gillespie, who is white, accuses the city of Orlando of racial discrimination. Court records said Gillespie's previous supervisor, who is black, "didn't want another white investigator" and once pointed at him and said, "These old white men need to die and get out of the way." A co-worker backed up the claim.

“He's going to have to show, like I said earlier, that there's a real burden been placed on him on account of his race and age,” said Joe Egan, a labor and employment attorney.

In court records, Gillespie said he received nearly "200 percent more work than other employees in the same position," but is "being paid much less" compared to two black co-workers. He's suing to stop the alleged practice and for compensation.

A city spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday on the lawsuit, but told Channel 9's Michael Lopardi that the city conducted its own internal investigation and found no evidence of discrimination or harassment.

Documents obtained by Eyewitness News claim that Gillespie didn't report the supervisor's comments until 14 months later, when the supervisor had already left the job, and that Gillespie was given more duties because of staffing issues and his additional training.

Egan told Eyewitness News that the court will have to determine what kind of burden the claims present.

“There's never really a slam dunk in these sort of cases,” Egan said.

The supervisor was hired last year by the city of Tampa.

The supervisor said during the investigation that she didn't remember making the comments about "old white men" and considered Gillespie a "friend."

Cox Media Group