From Sharper v. Right Away Maintenance Co., decided yesterday by Magistrate Judge Scott D. Johnson (M.D. La.):
Plaintiff began this litigation pro se on August 16, 2022, drafting and filing his original Complaint without the assistance of counsel. However, Plaintiff recently retained an attorney, who enrolled in May of 2023. The proposed Amended Complaint, which was drafted by counsel, is largely intended to clean-up the original Complaint. The allegations of race discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), see 42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e-2(a)(1) (disparate treatment and hostile work environment), remain unchanged. Plaintiff does, however, include a jury demand for the first time. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 38 (jury demand)….
Defendant objects to the proposed Amended Complaint because it: (1) includes an untimely jury demand; and (2) now spells out the racial epithet allegedly directed at Plaintiff by his supervisor. Defendant considers the inclusion of this racial epithet to be "scandalous," "prejudicial," and "unnecessary." Compare (On "September 5, 2019 … Mr. Adams referred to me as a "stupid f***ing n***er."), with ("On September 5, 2019, Jason Adams called Plaintiff, 'A stupid fucking nigger.'")….
Defendant claims:
RAMCO asserts that Plaintiff's allegations contained in Paragraph 19 of the Amended Complaint, using the fully spelled out "n-word" are scandalous, are highly and unduly prejudicial and defamatory to Defendant and its business reputation, and should be stricken or redacted from the pleading.
The Plaintiff's use of this word is unnecessary, and the allegation could be sufficiently plead by redacting this word so that it does not appear in its full form or by simply redacting the allegation to allege that a racial slur was used.
