Collins-Hoskins v. TripiFoods, Inc., and Tony Bow, individually, and Timothy R. Acker, individually, and Martin L. Brzoska , individually; Index No.:811894/2023

New Action filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York County of Erie

Collins-Hoskins v. TripiFoods, Inc., and Tony Bow, individually, and Timothy R. Acker, individually, and Martin L. Brzoska , individually; Index No.:811894/2023

On September 19, 2023, Plaintiff Collins-Hoskins, by and through his attorneys, BORRELLI & ASSOCIATES, P.L.L.C., as and for his Complaint against Defendants TRIPIFOODS, INC. (“Tripifoods”), and Tony Bow,  individually, and Timothy R. Acker, individually, and Martin L. Brzoska, individually, alleges upon knowledge as to himself and his own actions, and upon information and belief as to all other matters, as follows:

Tripifoods is a New York corporation that is a national wholesale supplier of convenience stores. In August 2021, Tripifoods hired Plaintiff, who is African American and Islamic, to work as a driver’s helper. Tripifoods’s Transportation Manager, Bow, supervised and assigned Plaintiff’s work, as well as the work of all truck drivers and driver’s helpers. On Plaintiff’s fourth day of work, Defendant Bow assigned him to work on an eighteen-wheeler tractor-trailer truck with Tripifoods’s driver, Defendant Acker. Acker and Bow informed Plaintiff that Tripifoods’s mechanic, Defendant Brzoska, would also be riding on Acker’s truck that day.  Bow, Acker, and Brzoska are all Caucasian, and had all, in Plaintiff’s few days of work, mocked Plaintiff for his race and Islamic tattoos, scoffing and laughing when Plaintiff explained that his tattoos referred to the oppression of African-Americans and the efforts made by African-Americans to elevate themselves out of the resulting impoverishment through the teaching and enlightenment found in the Islamic religion.  Continuing to demonstrate their discriminatory animus, on that fourth day, Acker and Bow told Plaintiff that Brzoska would ride in the cab, while Plaintiff would ride in the cargo area of the trailer.  Plaintiff observed that there were only two passenger seats in the cab of the truck and that there were none in the trailer.  He asked where he was supposed to sit, and Acker and Bow directed him, in violation of United States and New York Department of Transportation regulations, to sit on an unattached crate without any means of restraint.  Acker and Brzoska then locked Plaintiff into the dard trailer and proceeded to drive the truck twenty-eight miles over city and country roads, highways, and bridges, which caused Plaintiff to sustain profound injury.  While Plaintiff was being thrown around the trailer by the force of the truck’s movements and sustaining multiple injuries, he telephoned his sister and directed her to call the police and Bow to report the unsafe conditions and violation of law, as well as to request urgent assistance.  Plaintiff’s sister made those calls as directed on Plaintiff’s behalf. After speaking with Plaintiff’s sister, Bow ignored Plaintiff’s complaints.  The police responded to the call, inspected the truck, and cited Defendants for numerous violations.  Due to his injuries, Plaintiff thereafter took a leave of absence and obtained authorization for the same by way of a workers’ compensation claim and an incident report requested by Tripifoods that Plaintiff submitted to Bow.  In October 2021, before Plaintiff was medically approved to return to work, Bow and Tripifoods terminated his employment in retaliation for Plaintiff’s report of safety violations to the police, as well as his lawful absence from work after filing a workers’ compensation claim, and also for their disdain for him as an African-American and Islamic employee.

If any individual has information that may be relevant to this case, please contact Borrelli & Associates, P.L.L.C. as soon as possible through one of our websites, www.employmentlawyernewyork.com or www.516abogado.com, or any of our phone numbers: (516) 248–5550, (516) ABOGADO, or (212) 679–5000.