Former Myrtle Beach engineer suing city and staff members for defamation, civil conspiracy
A former employee has filed a lawsuit against the city of Myrtle Beach, its assistant city manager and director of public works citing defamation and civil conspiracy.
Patrick Sadek, who served as the city’s engineer from 2008 until November, filed suit last Thursday claiming that the city defamed his character and that assistant city manager Ron Andrews and Department of Public Works Director Bill Oliver conspired to harm him, according to court documents. He has requested a jury trial.
Sadek, who is of Lebanese descent, also is in the process of filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, according to the documents.
“We believe he was wrongfully treated because of his descent, and also because of his age,” Sadek’s attorney, Ashley C. Story with Columbia-based J. Lewis Cromer and Associates.
City spokesman Mark Kruea said city officials do not comment on pending litigation. Andrews also declined to comment.
In the lawsuit, Sadek alleges that his character was defamed when Andrews terminated him in November.
“These statements and actions, including false accusations that [Sadek] was incapable of performing his job, unable to work with others, and violated city policies, injured [Sadek] and have defamed [Sadek] in his trade, business or profession,” the suit reads. “[Sadek] was most humiliated during his termination and was forced to call upon a friend for transportation home from the office because his city transportation was stripped from him immediately and in front of his colleagues.”
He said the way he was terminated would make it difficult for him to find employment in the area.
The lawsuit claims that in 2012, Oliver and Andrews “starting singling him out for harsh and hostile treatment.” Sadek claims in the court documents that from 2012 to April 2014, he was “experiencing rising levels of fear and harassment from [Andrews and Oliver].”
Sadek claims that he sent a letter to Andrews and Oliver saying he was unhappy with the way they were treating him and also made complaints of discrimination.
Sadek said it was because of that letter that in November he received a negative performance review from Oliver, saying he received positive performance evaluation prior to that.
According to the documents, Sadek spoke with new city manager John Pedersen about the negative performance review and about two weeks later he was terminated by Andrews.
Story said it’s difficult to prove civil conspiracy, but in this case still chose to file the claim.
“Basically it’s using your job in a way that you shouldn’t be using it to cause harm to someone else,” she said.
Attorney’s for the city, Andrews and Oliver have 30 days to respond to the complaint. At that time, Story said those attorneys could file a motion to have the case thrown out or asking for documentation.
“I always request jury trials when it comes to employment cases,” Story said. “I think it’s more fair to have those 12 people making the decision instead of just one judge.”
Sadek and Story are working with EEOC to determine if Sadek has a case according to federal law. Story said the process could take up to 10 months before Sadek learns if he has a case under EEOC laws.
“He was a good employee and he worked there a long time,” she said. “We just want to make sure that he’s done right by.”
This story was originally published December 22, 2014 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Former Myrtle Beach engineer suing city and staff members for defamation, civil conspiracy."