A former Emporia State custodial specialist has filed a lawsuit against the university alleging sex discrimination, disability discrimination and retaliation, according to court documents. 

Eric Cannon, who was employed at ESU from March 2023 to March 2024, was terminated for multiple unexcused absences according to human resources. Court documents allege that the termination was actually a result of discrimination. 

Cannon, who is gay and has multiple health issues, was issued a Notice of Right to Sue by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in June after filing a Charge of Discrimination in April of last year. Cannon’s sexuality and health issues make him a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

Sexuality disclosed to coworkers

On Aug. 4, 2023, Cannon called out of work for a non-work-related injury, according to the complaint filed in federal court. The absence was approved by his direct supervisor, but he later received a call from non-direct supervisor, Jeff Horton. The suit claims that Horton “yelled at” and “threatened” Cannon over his absence. 

Cannon’s boyfriend overheard the phone conversation and asked Horton why he was being so rude; Horton did not respond and hung up, according to the complaint.

Horton did not know about Cannon’s sexual orientation before the phone call, and proceeded to inform the managerial team and Cannon’s coworkers about his sexuality, the complaint says. Cannon discovered that word of his sexuality had spread to his coworkers, which he was uncomfortable with. He did not want others to know about his sexual orientation for fear of being discriminated against.

Cannon complained to two supervisors about Horton’s actions and they scheduled a meeting with Joe Foster, assistant director of administration building services, regarding Horton’s “hostile” behavior. Foster agreed to the meeting, but reportedly did not show up and proceeded to avoid both supervisors according to court documents. 

On Aug. 8, 2023, Cannon was directed to attend a meeting with Horton and direct supervisor and custodial manager Kyle Ramsey. In the meeting, Cannon was shown an updated chain of command that listed Horton as a new direct supervisor to Cannon. 

The suit claims that “Ramsey and Horton designed the meeting and formal presentation of a revised chain of command to intimidate (Cannon) in response to (his) complaints about Horton.”

Ramsey later “berated” Cannon for his Aug. 4 absence, court documents say, which violated university policy requiring supervisor-employee discussions to have a neutral third party present.

Supervisors ignore doctors note 

In October, Cannon was assigned to clean and lock up Science Hall in addition to cleaning Cremer Hall. The suit says that chemical fumes in the building were “overwhelming” and “nauseating,” so Cannon requested a mask to wear while cleaning. Custodial supervisor Stephanie Mohling Stites and Ramsey denied his request, according to the complaint. 

The complaint alleges that Cannon was assigned to clean Science Hall “to induce (Cannon) to quit his job” after he made complaints about Horton. 

Court documents say Cannon fell ill within a week from the building’s chemical fumes and needed to miss work and see a doctor. His doctor confirmed that his symptoms were a result of the chemical fumes in Science Hall, and issued a note stating that Cannon was to either not work in Science Hall or to wear a mask while working there. 

Cannon gave the note to Mohling Stites who documents say ignored the restrictions and refused to give him a mask or reassign him. He also gave the note to a representative in human resources, who documents say offered no guidance or assistance to help accommodate his health issue. 

Cannon later contacted human resources about his supervisor’s refusal to comply with the doctor’s note. He was assigned a diversity representative and a meeting was set up with Title IX and a representative from human resources. 

On Nov. 16, 2023, a month after the doctor’s note was issued, Ramsey emailed Cannon asking exactly what in the science building was making him ill. Cannon restated his condition and re-sent Ramsey the doctor’s note. 

On his way to attend the meeting with human resources on Nov. 17, 2023, Cannon was stopped and questioned by Ramsey, who then followed him to his meeting, documents say. This made Cannon feel “threatened” and “intimidated.” 

In the meeting, Cannon raised concerns about discrimination towards him and human resources said they would begin an investigation.

Ramsey began to frequently check in on Cannon and “cornered” him in a breakroom twice after the meeting, according to the suit. The second time Cannon was cornered, he became fearful for his safety as Ramsey appeared to be “aggressive, like he was going to punch something,” documents say.

Human resources fails to investigate 

At the end of November 2023, Cannon reached out about the human resources investigation into his claims. He received no response. 

He attempted to follow up again on Dec. 6, 2023, and received a reply the next day. In the reply, the division asked Cannon if he would like an investigation launched, which confused him. Based on their previous meeting, Cannon was under the assumption an investigation had already started. He replied that he wanted an investigation to be launched, but that he was surprised nothing had been done yet.

On Dec. 13, human resources asked Cannon for a written description of events that had taken place to justify an investigation. This also surprised Cannon because he had already sent a written description to human resources and a representative had taken notes in the November meeting, according to the complaint.

Documents say that on Dec. 17, Foster asked Cannon if he had filed a discrimination report with human resources. Documents say Cannon had not discussed the report with anyone besides HR and the diversity representative, so he was surprised at Foster’s question. 

Foster later complained to Cannon’s supervisors that “it had taken him hours to find (Cannon),” although Cannon had been working in his assigned area the whole time. Later, the complaint says Ramsey yelled at Cannon for Foster’s allegation.

At the start of 2024, Cannon received a serious medical diagnosis that caused him to be absent from work several times. Cannon provided his supervisors with a doctor’s note each time, according to the complaint. Cannon was informed that his absences would be excused as long as he had a doctor’s note.

Cannon received a call from human resources on March 19 that he had been terminated due to an excessive amount of unexcused absences. The complaint says Cannon had not been notified that his absences were being counted as unexcused and he had not received any disciplinary actions regarding his absences beforehand. 

Emporia State and Cannon’s lawyers declined to comment on the litigation.