The Alabama NAACP, along with minority business owner Johnny Williams, is seeking answers from the St. Clair County Board of Education.
For 12 years, Mr. Williams cleaned for the school system.
He now claims that the decision to fire him was racially motivated.
The NAACP, Williams, and his business manager, Charles Jones, organized a press conference on Friday morning.
Saint Clair County relisted contracted custodial services for bidding in December 2022.
Johnny Williams, who works for Vanguard Cleaning Systems, won the contract as the lowest bidder.
Williams asserts that the district notified him on August 18th, 2023, to begin providing services to 8 schools and 4 buildings starting on August 21st, 2023.
Only one month later, on September 22nd, 2023, Williams claims he received notification that his company’s contractual janitorial services were no longer required.
They advised him to leave immediately and threatened to bar him from bidding on any future contracts.
“The sole reason they terminated our contract was because we failed to rectify a problem within 10 days, and they refused to disclose the nature of the problem.” According to Williams.
“They told us to talk to the superintendent of the board,” according to him.
Williams claims he has attempted this and received no response.
The NAACP now wants to take action.
I spoke with Bernard Simelton, President of the Alabama NAACP, about why they believe the termination is racially motivated.
“If you look at the important criteria, which include the color of Mr. Williams’ skin, the amount of money he would have earned, and the opportunity provided by the person they replaced him with, Simelton added, “This suggests that Mr. Williams’ race played a significant role.”
Williams claims that there was no convincing justification or evidence of poor work.
In addition, he believes that his twelve employees were poached.
As a result, he believes that any complaints about the services given are unjustified.
Bubba Ingram, the proprietor of Perfection Upgrades, is now carrying out the custodial contract’s tasks.
According to Williams, the contract was for a year and $45,000 per month.
Williams asserts that they took away money that could change lives.
“I will not go away. I am going to fight. Williams explained, “Because I demand justice, I will fight until my final breath.”
The NAACP, Williams, and his business manager all claim their request is simple.
According to his contract, we should reinstate him. Second, he should receive reparation for the time he missed,” Simelton stated.
After the conference, we went to the school board building to speak with a representative; we learned that the superintendent, Dr. Justin Burns, was on vacation.
As of publication, the school board has not yet responded to a number of our questions.
