Ex-employee files discrimination lawsuit against Triumph

Quinn Ritzdorf, St. Joseph News-Press, Mo.
·2 min read

Aug. 19—A former employee has filed a lawsuit against Triumph Foods after he said he was wrongfully terminated.

Joshua Nyaundi, a Black man from Kenya, alleges he was fired after working 10 years at Triumph because he wasn't Hispanic and didn't speak Spanish like his supervisor.

Nyaundi was the kill floor assistant general supervisor at Triumph, with years of experience. He claims his boss was planning on promoting him to general supervisor, according to court documents. However, that boss was injured on vacation and retired early.

Julio Sanchez filled the role as general manager. Nyaundi alleges Sanchez discriminated against him based on his race and national origin because Sanchez blocked Nyaundi's promotion and instead hired a Hispanic, who had never worked on the kill floor, according to court documents.

"I was in charge of the kill floor, and he brings in this guy," Nyaundi said in an interview with News-Press NOW. "This guy has never stopped in kill floor before, he doesn't know anything. He brings him because they speak the same language."

Three days later, there was an altercation between two employees Nyaundi supervised, according to the lawsuit. When Nyaundi confronted the employees and told them to move positions on the floor, one grabbed Nyaundi by the neck and threatened to punch him, according to the lawsuit. Nyaundi defended himself by holding the employee back, according to court documents. Later that day, Nyaundi was fired for fighting. He said Triumph didn't investigate the altercation.

After he was fired, Nyaundi received a letter from the Missouri Commission on Human Rights giving him the right to sue. At the end of 2021, Nyaundi filed a discrimination lawsuit in Buchanan County that has since been moved to the U.S. Western District Court of Missouri.

Nyaundi's petition filed as part of his lawsuit said Triumph's termination was "discriminatory on the basis of his race and national origin and was retaliatory in nature."

Triumph declined to comment for this story. In its answer to Nyaundi's petition, the company denies all allegations.

"What he did is against the law, because I did nothing," Nyaundi said. "I wish he would have told me, 'I don't want to work with you, go home.' I wouldn't have filed the lawsuit."

Quinn Ritzdorf can be reached at quinn.ritzdorf@newspressnow.com