Ex-HUP employee claims anti-Muslim discrimination

Leonard james Smith has sued HUP, accusing supervisors of harassing him after he attended at Louis Farrakhan speech. Leonard James Smith kept his religion private for the first three months he worked as a custodian at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. But after Smith attended a March 1995 speech delivered by controversial Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan at the Civic Center, all of Smith's co-workers and supervisors knew he was Muslim because The Daily Pennsylvanian printed a front-page photograph prominently featuring Smith, who wore a white jacket and a bow-tie and held a dollar bill in his right hand. According to a recent lawsuit, they harassed and discriminated against him until he was fired that June. The 51-year-old Smith, unable to find a job due to the stigma of being fired, is suing HUP in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court for more than $50,000 in damages. In the suit, he accuses the University's flagship hospital of failing to prevent racial and religious slurs against him and allowing a "hostile working environment." "The workplace is not where [co-workers] should be able to express those prejudices," said Alex Pierre, Smith's attorney. "I have tried in many instances to settle this case with [the University]. All I was told was to bring the case to litigation." Yesterday the University denied all of the charges in the civil suit, which was filed September 22. Penn has not yet responded to the suit, and no court date has been set. "Leonard Smith's allegation is completely baseless," Health System spokesperson Rebecca Harmon said. HUP officially doesn't discriminate against its employees based on race, religion, sex and several other factors, she added. University officials doubt the validity of Smith's claims because the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission ruled against him earlier this year. But Pierre maintained that such a ruling is "normal" and simply allows the plaintiff to move ahead with a lawsuit. Prior to attending the speech, Smith knew the event would draw a large crowd -- which the DP later estimated as about 2,000 -- but he didn't know his picture would run atop the next day's front page, Pierre said. The lead photo, measuring 8 inches by 6 1/2 inches, had the following caption: "Supporters of Minister Louis Farrakhan donate money during his speech 'Let Us Make Man,' at the Civic Center last night." A smaller picture of Farrakhan ran below the one of Smith. Someone taped the photo to the office time clock, the complaint states. One supervisor told Smith, while he cleaned a hospital room, that the Nation of Islam was a "cult." Another said "Louis Farrakhan hated white folks and that [the plaintiff] was like him by following him [Farrakhan]," according to the complaint. None of the supervisors named in the complaint could be reached for comment yesterday. Smith's superiors often chose him to work overtime hours and didn't have any complaints about his job performance. But after the photo was printed, Smith's hours "dropped precipitously and he no longer received overtime hours," according to the suit. A HUP employee privately told Smith "that the atmosphere at work was one of enmity against the Plaintiff by reason of his religion," the suit states. Smith, a Philadelphia resident who is married with two high-school-age children, was fired about 2 1/2 months after the photo appeared, according to his lawyer. "He has the right to exercise his First Amendment right by practicing his religion after business hours," Pierre said.

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