Allegations Made Against DART

It was four year ago when Rebecca Williams, an employee for DART, ending up suing the company. At the time, Williams was working within the human resources department and was told by her boss that should only hire Hispanic individuals. She told the WFAA, at that time, that she was ordered to only hire Hispanic individuals. Afterwards, she claims to have been fired because she believes he was retaliated on because she was the one who reported the discriminatory practice that were going on within the agency. A separate employee at DART, Jacqueline Freeman, agrees with the deposition provided by Williams and claims that she is also being fired for that exact reason. Freeman claims that DART decided to investigate and fire her back on September 5^th, which is the day after she made a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  Williams said, “The same thing is happening to someone else that happened to me.”

Back in October of 2010, Freeman had planned to provide a deposition for Williams and her lawsuit. Freeman claims that the legal team for DART encouraged her to say that she did not recall whenever she was asked any questions. Freeman told the company that she refused to lie while providing a deposition. She also told her boss that she was well aware that the hiring decisions still had to do with race and that certain races were being hired while others were not. When Freeman filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, she said she was being harassed and was also being placed in a hostile working condition because she was questioning the hiring decisions, which seemed to be based on race. When Freeman told DART that she made a complaint to the EEOC, she received a termination letter just a week later.

In the meantime, DART is painting an entirely different picture of what went on with both of these women several years ago. The agency says that they could not provide any commentary on Freeman’s current case but have claimed that she was let go for other reasons and not for her going ahead with a complaint made to the EEOC. It was also stated that an investigation on Freeman started prior to her having ever filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC. Williams and Freeman both argue that DART is in the wrong. Williams has said, “They’re retaliating against both of us, against her for filing the complaint, and against me because I breathe air.” She is angered by the situation at hands.