Hill’s Pet Nutrition is getting sued for discrimination.

Former employee, Brandon-Michael Burney, 43, filed a racial discrimination and retaliation case on May 20 through the U.S. District Court District of Kansas.

Burney is an African-American man and began working for at the Hills plant in 2013 as a technician, according to court documents.

In Burney’s lawsuit, he is asking for at least $300,000, which is the minimum amount required in this kind of lawsuit. He is also requesting Hill’s pay for his legal fees and backpay, including benefits and court costs.

Why is Hills Pet Nutrition getting sued?

Burney claims in his lawsuit that between 2018 and 2022, he experienced discriminatory behavior from plant manager Corey Murrey, who is white and not a named defendant in the lawsuit.

In the claim, Burney said Murrey would give him negative feedback and discipline that didn’t align with similarly situated white coworkers. He also claims Murrey would rush him, not give proper explanation of procedure changes and accused him of being late when he was not.

During the four years, Burney claims he sent in multiple complaints to the union steward Matt Guerrero, who is also not named as a defendant in this case, according to court documents. Burney also claims to have sent in a complaint of racial discrimination to the Hill’s company, which didn’t intervene.

In late October 2022, Burney claimed someone at Hill’s told him that if he did not stop pursuing complaints through the union he would be fired.

Between October 2022 and June 2023, Burney allegedly continued to face discrimination and had his overtime eligibility stripped despite other similarly situated employees keeping their eligibility, according to court documents.

On June 27, 2023, Burney was fired for being late to work. He claims he wasn’t late and that his supervisor couldn’t provide proof that he was late.