SAN ANTONIO – A former bilingual communications specialist with CPS Energy fired last year for failing to cooperate with an investigation into his behavior has filed a federal lawsuit against the utility, court records show.
Ruben Betancourt accuses officials with the utility of retaliation and claims they discriminated against him because of a disability, according to a copy of the civil complaint obtained Wednesday by KSAT Investigates.
Recommended Videos
Betancourt worked for CPS from January 2022 until he was fired on July 7, 2022, after he declined to provide the company’s security team with a list of his prescribed medications following an incident at its headquarters in late April 2022.
Betancourt, who according to records had recently undergone an emergency appendectomy, told KSAT he showed up at work for the utility’s monthly board meeting and misplaced his security badge after entering the building.
“Still feeling a little off, a little bad,” said Betancourt, who was prescribed pain medication after the surgery and also takes medication for a diagnosed mental health illness.
Betancourt said after misplacing his badge, which was later found, CPS Energy security operations staff began to question his behavior.
“It was an odd situation because it seemed like there was suspicion put onto me for losing my badge when all I was trying to do was find it,” Betancourt said.
Betancourt said he was summoned to CPS Energy headquarters the following day and questioned by security.
He said the questions consisted of asking what medications he was taking, the interactions between these medications as well as questions about his mental health.
CPS officials contend they uncovered security video footage showing Betancourt on the day of the board meeting attempting to drive into the company’s parking garage through the exit gate, records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Betancourt said security staff instructed him to turn over a list of medications prescribed to him but failed to provide a point of contact with whom to turn in that information.
Betancourt told KSAT he then contacted CPS Energy’s human resources department.
“No, you don’t have to send it over to security. You’re going to work with me going forward. Work with me. Don’t provide them any information, especially since they’re asking for medical documentation. Everything on the medical side, you know, with our HIPAA laws,” the HR employee told Betancourt in the recorded phone call.
Betancourt also recorded phone conversations with security in which a staff member followed up on the request for the list of meds.
“Okay, so just to be clear, you know, gave you ‘til... giving you ‘til 5 o’clock today to provide that information, so are you just refusing to provide it or declining?” the security staff member said in the May 2022 recording.
Betancourt told KSAT he was comfortable providing the requested information to HR but not directly to the company’s security team.
Betancourt said he eventually sent the list of meds to HR and the company’s manager of occupational health.
He also filed a formal complaint against the security team, which was closed in June 2022 without any HIPAA or other policy violations being found, CPS Energy records show.
Betancourt was placed on administrative leave in early May 2022 but was permitted to return to work after completing fitness-for-duty paperwork that same month, records show.
Betancourt said he returned to a “cold, hostile” work environment and perceived several indications that the company was going to eventually terminate him.
“I basically felt alone in this corporation. I just felt like I was belittled. I was targeted. Nobody was there to vouch for me,” Betancourt said.
A week before he was formally terminated, Betancourt said his supervisor sat him down and gave him a long list of work duties she said he was handling incorrectly.
Betancourt told KSAT he had received no previous work reviews or feedback on how he was doing.
On July 7, 2022, less than two weeks before Betancourt would have completed his probationary work period, he was terminated.
Betancourt was fired for not being forthcoming, truthful or accurate in his report to CPS Energy security, which caused an “escalated security concern” at work, his termination paperwork states.
He was also terminated for failing to safely perform his work duties, failing to safeguard his security badge and for failing to show cooperation during security’s investigation of him, Betancourt’s termination letter states.
Betancourt, who filed the lawsuit Monday, has asked the court to appoint him an attorney and for the case to proceed without him having to prepay fees, records show.
Betancourt is currently representing himself, records show.
He previously told KSAT he lost his medical insurance, filed for bankruptcy, lost his vehicle and experienced homelessness after his termination last year.
Betancourt’s lawsuit seeks lost wages, damages for mental anguish, emotional pain and for loss of enjoyment of life.
A CPS spokesperson told KSAT via email Wednesday: “CPS Energy does not intend to comment on litigation involving personnel matters.”