Macon man says boss, coworkers insulted him over race, Muslim faith. He wins $136K in court

A former employee of a moving company from Macon has been awarded about $136,000 in court after he sued his former employer over alleged discrimination against him because he’s Black and Muslim.

This decision comes after he sued the moving company and the company failed to respond to court-mandated paperwork on multiple occasions. The former employee won his case by default, according to a judge’s ruling.

Gregory Lowe, a Black man who is of Muslim faith, filed a lawsuit in October last year against Allstar Moving and Delivery of Macon. He alleged in his lawsuit that the owner, Dan Couey, a white man, made several racially insensitive and inappropriate comments toward him and his beliefs and fired him over it.

Before filing the lawsuit, Lowe reported the discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which found confirmation that he was fired for his religion and subjected to pay discrimination, according to court documents in the lawsuit. Lowe was unable to reach a resolution with his former employer because his attorneys couldn’t reach Allstar Moving, according to court documents.

The complaint described several incidents in which Couey required Black customers to pay in cash while not requiring the same of white customers, used a racial slur in the workplace and paid Black hourly employees less than white hourly employees. It also describes Couey giving white employees more opportunities and better equipment than Black employees, who would get older, and often faulty, equipment.

Lowe’s lawsuit also alleged that his coworkers accused him of being a terrorist once they found out he was Muslim.

Couey would refer to Lowe as “Muhammad” and suggest that Islam was a made-up religion, according to Lowe’s lawsuit. Further, he told Lowe to convert to Christianity, adding that he should be scared if he did not convert to Christianity, the lawsuit states.

Lastly, the complaint stated that Lowe was fired from Allstar Moving and Delivery in October 2019, and Couey told him “I don’t need your kind working for me. I don’t want no Muslim working for me.”

When Lowe visited the workplace for the last time to pick up his paycheck, Couey held a baseball bat and struck the palm of his hand with it, suggesting that he would put the bat on Lowe, the lawsuit alleged.

Lowe’s attorney, Kenneth Barton III, asked Judge Tilman Self III to rule that Lowe had won his case in a summary judgment because the moving company never filed a legal reply to the allegations.

Barton mentioned that Lowe had attempted to reach out via email and mail regarding the lawsuit the day he filed it, but the moving company never responded.

The judge allowed additional time, hoping Allstar Moving and Delivery would respond, but the company never did. A deputy with the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Secretary of State of Georgia attempted to serve the company with their papers but were also unsuccessful, according to court records.

So Self ruled in Lowe’s favor, ordering that Lowe be awarded $135,847 plus post-judgment interest of 5.18%.

The company has not made a post on its Facebook page in more than a year. Efforts by The Telegraph to contact the company via phone and email were unsuccessful.

The moving company’s last post on Facebook from March 2023 stated that they were still in business at the time, but had “bad misfortunes.”