YOUNGSTOWN — A Niles man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city of Girard, its police Chief John Norman and a police officer charging them with harassment, defamation and unlawful dismissal from his job at the Chase Bank in Girard.

Delshawn Wells-Pruitt, through his attorney, Gilbert Rucker, is seeking $75,000 on each of the seven counts of the lawsuit plus punitive damages. The suit also asks the court to order civil rights training and enforcement for the police department.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Bonita Y. Pearson, who has not set a trial date. However, at a teleconference last week, the judge set a deadline of June 6 for the defendant to file an amended complaint; and other deadlines in early 2021 for both sides to file motions and responses.

According to the court document filed in February and then amended April 22, Wells-Pruitt’s civil rights were violated through the conduct of the police department and officers. Wells-Pruitt claimed his First and 14th Amendment rights were violated, the suit states.

On May 4, the judge approved the plaintiff’s motion to dismiss Chase Bank from the lawsuit.

The facts of the case include that the black man was traffic stopped on March 18, 2019, and “detained and harassed” by officer Jonathan Silverman while traveling through Girard where his workplace was located.

According to the lawsuit, during the stop, after the man told Silverman where he worked, the officer contacted Chase Bank to verify Wells-Pruitt’s employment. During the conversation, the lawsuit alleged the officer made racially disparaging remarks.

“(The) officer’s contacting plaintiff’s employer was motivated by racial animus and bias and was without justification from a traffic stop from which no citation was issued,” the lawsuit alleges.

After the traffic stop, Wells-Pruitt reported the officer’s actions to the police department.

“The plaintiff was engaged in a constitutionally protected activity when he reported acts of harassment … by filing an internal complaint with the Girard Police Department,” the document states.

The suit alleges that after Wells-Pruitt reported the incident, the defendants contacted the man’s employer “as an act of retaliation.” Because of this “retaliatory act,” the lawsuit states Wells-Pruitt was “wrongfully terminated from his employment.”

Attorneys R. Todd Hunt, representing the city of Girard and other defendants, said there are some inaccuracies in the plaintiff’s charges that may be part of a scaled-back second amendment to the complaint.

In a filing to the court May 4, Hunt noted that the city and police officers deny any liability to Wells-Pruitt for the claims.

gvogrin@tribtoday.com