IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Civil Rights Commission is seeking to enforce a $14,700 judgment against a businessman accused of making racial slurs to belittle black employees. Bruce Smith of West Des Moines and his company, AAA Allied Building Services, have been ordered to pay lost wages and damages to an employee who says he quit after enduring the harassment. The commission has filed a case against Smith in district court to collect the damages, a rare enforcement action for the agency.

Smith called the case “a railroad job” orchestrated by a disgruntled former employee, saying “the whole thing was a lie.” The case stemmed from a complaint filed by David Curry of Des Moines, who worked on an overnight crew for Smith cleaning Petsmart, Best Buy and other businesses. Curry and a co-worker testified that Smith called them slurs and made other offensive comments. An administrative law judge ruled that Smith violated the Iowa Civil Rights Act.