Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a claim regarding an El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce endorsement. The organization did not endorse any candidates in the 2024 election.
A 2018 jury verdict against Marketing and Engineering Technologies International, the company headed by El Paso mayoral candidate Renard Johnson, is reemerging only weeks ahead of the Nov. 5 election.
Judgment in the case is coming to light after West Side city Rep. Brian Kennedy, one of Johnson’s main opponents in the mayoral race, used it in his latest campaign mailer.
The plaintiff in the case also contacted the El Paso Times.
A 2015 lawsuit filed by Ernesto Borrego, a former employee of METI, alleged that the company and Johnson, as the representative of the company, violated Title VII anti-discrimination laws when Borrego was terminated after raising alarms about possible discrimination. Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin.
Borrego asserted in his lawsuit that a project manager for a third-party contractor, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service, discriminated against him because he is Hispanic. The employee reported the discrimination to METI and was wrongfully terminated.
The jury found in Borrego’s favor and awarded him roughly $277,000 in damages, according to the judgment.
Borrego, a native El Pasoan who worked for METI from April 2007 until April 2013, decided to sound the alarm over Johnson’s business practices after seeing METI receive praise from the El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for being a sponsor of its 2024 Fiesta.
“I want the citizens of El Paso to know that he violated a federal law,” Borrego said. “Not many employers in El Paso have claims against them on Title VII violations.”
“I don’t think he’s the right person (to be mayor),” Borrego continued.
Johnson’s campaign, meanwhile, asserted that the plaintiff had originally attempted to file the lawsuit against the third party, but such action is prohibited by law, so the plaintiff sued METI.
“A jury found that we were responsible for the third party’s actions,” a spokesperson for Johnson’s campaign said in an email. “We ultimately resolved the case to the mutual benefit of all the parties.”
What’s in the lawsuit?
In April 2007, Borrego was hired as a senior applications developer for METI and assigned to work as a contractor with the USDA Forest Service in Corvallis, Oregon, the lawsuit states.
Two years later, he was promoted to a strategic lead role in connection with his work with the USDA and in 2010 moved back to El Paso and continued to work remotely for the Forest Service.
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In November 2012, Borrego was placed on probation for “alleged poor performance” based on information provided by USDA Forest Service Project Manager Kathy Sleavin, the lawsuit states. He contested Sleavin’s evaluation and brought his concerns to Michelle Rosalez, program manager for METI.
“I was discriminated against from a project manager within the federal government, a white woman,” the plaintiff said. “Even people in the federal government were telling me to watch out (for her).”
Despite Borrego’s assertions that he was being discriminated against, METI “failed to investigate or take any action whatsoever,” the lawsuit states.
In April 2013, he submitted a letter rebutting the report that led to him being placed on probation.
The same day, he was terminated.
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“After he submitted his rebuttal letter to METI, the plaintiff was told by (Rosalez) that his employment was terminated,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff then received a letter of termination from Renard Johnson … on April 25, 2013, via email.”
The lawsuit asserts that Borrego “did not violate any company policy and denied any conduct that could have resulted in disciplinary action.” Filings also claim the Texas Workforce Commission found no misconduct on Borrego’s behalf and that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued him a “notice of right to sue” METI.
Filings go on to note that “his national origin … was a motivating factor in the decision to terminate his employment.”
Judgment in the case
It would be three years before Borrego would have a resolution in the discrimination case against METI.
A jury ordered that he be compensated as follows:
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$160,000 in damages for back pay
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$7,000 for compensatory damages in the past
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$20,000 for compensatory damages in the future
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$90,079 in attorney’s fees.
The campaign could not provide time to interview Johnson but issued a statement reiterating that METI does not discriminate against employees.
“METI is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against anyone,” Johnson’s spokesperson wrote. “In our 30-year history, we have had several thousand employees and this is the only lawsuit that has ever been filed against the company.”
Adam Powell covers government and politics for the El Paso Times and can be reached via email at apowell@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Mayoral candidate’s company paid settlement in discrimination case
