Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
A man who says he was fired as an instructor at an automotive training school for complaining that one student assaulted him and that another threatened classmates that he would “go ISIS” on them is suing the nationwide chain.
Sean Finnegan filed the lawsuit Monday against Universal Technical Institute Inc., alleging wrongful termination, assault, battery, intentional misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and a violation of the state Labor Code. Only one of the students, Morion Thomas, is named as a co-defendant
The suit seeks unspecified damages as well as restitution and an injunction preventing UTI from violating the Labor Code with unfair business practices.
A UTI representative did not immediately reply to en email sent Tuesday seeking comment.
According to the lawsuit, UTI hired Finnegan as an instructor in March 2011. He was diligent and hard-working throughout his employment, the suit states. The lawsuit does not state at which UTI campus Finnegan was hired to work.
Finnegan was “assaulted and battered” by UTI student Thomas in early 2014, the suit states. Finnegan complained to UTI management, but nothing was done, according to the complaint.
In the middle of this year, student Albert Maida began disrupting the class and “escalated to where he made terrorist threats, yelling to the class that he would go ISIS on them,” the suit alleges.
UTI management ignored Finnegan’s complaint about Maida as well, the suit states.
Finnegan reported Maida to Homeland Security and to the police and the student was arrested on charges of making terrorist threats, the suit states. However, a week before the arrest, Finnegan was fired earlier this year for complaining about Maida and Thomas, the suit states.
Finnegan accepted an invitation by a UTI supervisor to return to the school part-time on the condition he would eventually be given a full-time position, the suit states. However, UTI has refused to restore Finnegan to full- time status, the suit states.
—City News Service
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