A Mississippi man has taken legal action against a Louisiana-based company, alleging workplace discrimination and retaliation. Timothy Woods filed a complaint on November 12, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against Syrah Technologies, LLC. Woods claims that he faced racial discrimination and was unfairly retaliated against during his employment at the company.
According to the complaint, Woods began working at Syrah Technologies in November 2022 under the supervision of Mario Trepovicht. He claims that shortly after his employment commenced, new job positions were made available within the company that aligned better with his qualifications and offered higher pay. Despite being qualified alongside another employee, Alicia Blanton Payne, both were overlooked for these positions in favor of a less qualified Caucasian candidate. This incident led Payne to resign from her position.
Woods alleges that he experienced further discrimination when his supervisor openly stated in front of other laboratory technicians that he was not hired for certain roles because of his hair. Additionally, Woods was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) which made him ineligible for promotions or new positions—a fact he discovered only during an interview process. The complaint states that even after Human Resources admitted to discriminatory practices against him, no corrective measures were taken.
The situation escalated when Mario Trepovicht was terminated due to circumstances related to discrimination, yet Woods continued to face a hostile work environment under new supervisor Danisha Grover. Woods recounts incidents where Grover refused to communicate with him or approve his leave requests while accommodating others’. After raising concerns about this environment with HR and requesting a meeting with Grover’s supervisor Julio Martin, Woods received no follow-up.
On March 29, 2024, without prior warning or discussion following his HR complaint about hostility at work, Woods received another PIP and subsequently wrote a rebuttal as per company policy. The next day he was escorted off the premises and later informed by Stephanie Dirr from HR over the weekend that he had been terminated.
In seeking justice through this lawsuit, Woods is asking for back pay amounting to $103,434.10 for lost wages since April; front pay totaling $65,326.30 if reinstatement is deemed unfeasible; emotional distress damages worth $150,000; punitive damages of $130,633 due to reputational harm and financial hardship caused by these actions; along with court costs and attorney fees yet unspecified but included as part of total relief sought which amounts up to $514,720.20.
Representing himself pro se in this matter without legal counsel named thus far—Timothy Woods seeks both monetary compensation and potential reinstatement into roles previously denied due consideration owing largely towards alleged systemic bias encountered during tenure at Syrah Technologies LLC.
This case is presided over by an unnamed judge within Alexandria Division under Civil Action No: 29-CV-01758.
