A Suffolk County jury has ordered the Boston Water and Sewer Commission to pay $1 million to a former employee who was found to have been retaliated against after filing a racial discrimination lawsuit against the agency. The verdict was returned Thursday in a civil case brought by Terrance Williams, who alleged that the commission targeted him in response to his legal challenge.

Williams, a Dorchester resident, worked for the commission for more than three decades and filed the lawsuit in 2022. He claimed the commission engaged in a longstanding pattern of underpaying, undervaluing, and underpromoting Black employees. While the jury did not find that racial discrimination itself occurred, they determined that the commission retaliated against Williams for pursuing his discrimination claims.

According to Williams’s attorney, Nick Carter, the commission began retaliating against Williams shortly after the lawsuit was filed. The retaliation allegedly included reprimands over minor parking infractions, negative alterations to his performance reviews, and being passed over for promotional interviews. Williams was terminated by the commission in May 2025.

Williams’s complaint detailed several specific grievances, including that his weekly salary was significantly lower than those of white colleagues with less experience and qualifications. He argued that white employees were favored in assignments, promotions, and were permitted to bypass residency requirements that applied strictly to others. The lawsuit cited the career advancement of four white employees who achieved higher salaries and promotions despite lacking college degrees that were purportedly required for their positions.

The jury’s verdict included $400,000 in punitive damages, reflecting the finding that the retaliation against Williams was “extreme and outrageous,” according to Carter. He called the decision an important milestone that highlights the need for closer oversight of the commission by city and state officials. Carter urged Mayor Michelle Wu and state leadership to investigate the commission’s history of discrimination and retaliation, emphasizing that such conduct should not be tolerated at a key public agency.

In response, Brian T. Kelly, the commission’s attorney, said the agency was “pleased” the jury rejected the claims of racial discrimination and found no liability on those charges. He announced that the commission intends to appeal the retaliation verdict, citing Williams’s employment at a second job while on the clock as justification for his termination.

Williams, who served as manager of operations from 2017 until his dismissal, has a long history with the city and the commission, having started his employment in 1988. Outside of his work at the commission, Williams is known for founding a nonprofit youth basketball program and for his previous runs for Boston City Council. In 2023, Governor Maura Healey granted him a pardon for a juvenile delinquency related to an assault charge from 1984.

The Boston Water and Sewer Commission provides water and sewer services to more than one million people daily and operates under a three-member board appointed by the city’s mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The agency employs approximately 450 staff members and receives most of its funding from ratepayer revenue.