KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – A white prison employee in Kansas City who filed a racial discrimination lawsuit against the Missouri Department of Corrections has won almost $1.5 million.

The Kansas City Star reports that Richard Dixson sued the agency last year saying he was subjected to racial discrimination and a hostile work environment at the Kansas City Re-Entry Center, a minimum-security prison. The lawsuit said managers retaliated after Dixson complained.

A Jackson County jury on Monday ruled in Dixson’s favor on the allegation of retaliation, but not on the discrimination and hostile work environment allegations. The jury awarded Dixson $280,000 in compensatory damages and $1.2 million in punitive damages.

Officials at the Corrections Department and the office of the Missouri attorney general didn’t immediately return calls from the newspaper seeking comment.