Former Utility Worker suing Westminster

A former water plant operator for the City of Westminster filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the city. The plaintiff, Fitzgerald Smith of Anderson County, alleges he lost his job last summer for “pretextual reasons” and in retaliation for Smith’s use of protected leave afforded by the Family Medical Leave Act. Filed by Smith’s attorney, Jeremy Summerlin of Greenville, in the Oconee Common Pleas Court, the lawsuit requests a jury trial and seeks, among other damages, “compensation and benefits due that were lost as a result of defendant’s unlawful employment practices.”