GREENFIELD — A lawsuit that alleges ethnic discrimination as a motivating factor for the firing of Greenfield Community College’s former head of public safety no longer includes a charge against GCC President Bob Pura.
The lawsuit, first filed in September by Luis Santamaria, was updated in December to reflect the two dropped charges, including the one citing Pura — who will retire as the college’s president at the end of this academic year — and a retaliation claim naming the college. Remaining is a retaliation claim against the college under the Civil Rights Act, which prevents an employer from discriminating on sex, race, religion or ethnicity.
A motion hearing for the lawsuit is scheduled to go before a judge on April 11 in U.S. District Court in Springfield. Greenfield Community College will be asking for the third, and final, remaining charge to be dropped, which would dismiss the case altogether.
Originally the hearing was slated for Tuesday. Pura had no comment about the lawsuit.
A majority of the suit revolves around the treatment of the Honduran native by his supervisor, Peter Sennett, the executive director of Public Safety, Human Resources and the Title IX officer.
Santamaria worked for GCC for almost two years, having started in February 2015. The suit says he “continued to experience discrimination and harassment based upon his Central American/Hispanic national origin/ethnicity … despite his reporting and resisting of the same.”
You can reach Joshua Solomon at: jsolomon@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 264.