AIKEN --- A former Wackenhut Services Inc. employee filed a suit Monday claiming he was demoted because he is white.

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Marvin Timothy Oerman, of Aiken, filed the complaint seeking a jury trial with the U.S. District Court District of South Carolina Aiken Division, stating that he was demoted from management in the training division and was replaced by a "non-white person."

Oerman's suit said Wackenhut replaced him in an attempt to "compensate for the lack of minorities at the executive level by increasing the number of minorities in management and supervision."

Wackenhut holds a $989 million contract to oversee security at Savannah River Site through the next decade.

In the suit, Oerman said the company began reorganization discussions earlier this year. He was informed by a supervisor that Wackenhut transferred its only black director, and the company's general manager was under pressure to bring in another black director. Oerman's suit said he was also told that the company wanted to increase the representation of minorities in management and at supervisory levels since upper management contained only white males.

Oerman, who's been with the company since 1983, was demoted despite expressing interest to remain in management, and receiving excellent performance reviews, according to the suit. Open managerial positions were filled by a black male and another minority male. Oerman was told by the company that he wasn't considered for a managerial position because of his race, according to the lawsuit.

Oerman's demotion included a reduction in pay and benefits.

Wackenhut faced a similar suit in late 2009, when Lagone Melton, of Hephzibah, who is black, filed a claim saying he was treated more severely and differently than white colleagues in disciplinary actions. Wackenhut denied Melton's claims in a court filing. The case is pending.

The company has not filed a response to Oerman's complaint, and representatives could not be reached to discuss it Thursday.