After a two year fight with the business, a settlement has been reached.
Lawyer Tom Dimitre said his client, back in October 2020, got a new supervisor who was not a fan of his accent and told him so.
Dimitre said his client submitted an internal complaint with the YMCA about the comments from his supervisor.
Soon after, Dimitre claims his client began to be targeted, before being demoted from sports director to grounds maintenance superintendent.
He was eventually fired, after taking a pay cut.
Both Akpan and Dimitre spoke to NBC5 about the settlement Monday.
“I wake up everyday feeling the humiliation that I had at the Y and knowing people who could have stopped it, didn’t stop it,” Akpan said.
“Discovery I think showed there had been a plan to get rid of him,” Dimitre said. “It also showed that many folks had complained about what was going on with tony, including Tony, discovery showed that the person in charge of the investigation just didn’t believe Tony so they weren’t really investigated.”
According to Dimitre, the Ashland Family YMCA offered a settlement, that was agreed to in late in 2022.
Dimitre said the company originally tried to settle in September 2020 before the lawsuit was filed.
He said the company did it knowing Akpan was under incredible stress, just days after his house burned down in the Almeda Fire.
Akpan said he hopes others who are in a similar situation to him speak out earlier to stop any type of workplace harassment.
We reached out to the Ashland Family YMCA for comment, we haven’t heard back.
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