A former senior corporate counsel at Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy alleges in a new lawsuit that the company fired him a year ago after he expressed concerns about the electric utility’s “unlawful” diversity, equity and inclusion program.

David Farkas, a white male, joined FirstEnergy in 2011. In his suit, filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Cuyahoga County, says his dismissal was discriminatory and retaliatory. Farkas says he initially received sparkling reviews but that his career was derailed by the company’s adoption in 2018 of a revised DEI program that tied annual bonuses to diversity-related metrics.