A federal appeals court on Tuesday reinstated the hostile work environment claim of a former tree services employee who was allegedly driven to attempt suicide by his supervisor’s harassment.

Alexis Soto Fernandez, a Cuban, who is a former crew foreperson for Houston-based Trees Inc., which provides vegetation management for the utility industry, worked for the firm from 2015 to 2016, according to Tuesday’s ruling by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Alexis Soto Fernandez v. Trees Inc., d.b.a. Trees Acquisition Inc.

About two months before Mr. Fernandez left his employment with Trees Inc., his supervisor and another Cuban worker had a physical altercation after which the supervisor began making derogatory comments about Cubans to the workers he supervised, said the ruling. He also declared, “new policy in the company: no more Cuban people.”

Mr. Fernandez testified, and was supported by co-workers, that the supervisor spoke disparagingly to the Cuban workers on a near-daily basis, according to the ruling.

About two months after the initial altercation between the supervisor and the co-worker, Mr. Fernandez attempted suicide at the job site by dousing himself with gasoline and reaching for a lighter, but a co-worker tackled him before he succeeded, said the ruling.

He was terminated, then filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, Florida, charging a hostile work environment and national original discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and state law.

The district court granted Trees Inc. summary judgment dismissing both claims. A three-judge appeals court panel unanimously reinstated the hostile work environment claim.

Mr. Fernandez “provided ample evidence that the harassment he faced was frequent,” said the ruling. The supervisor “often in vulgar terms – disparaged, ridiculed, and insulted all the employees in a protected class and persisted in doing so despite Fernandez’s and other Cuban employees’ complaints and specific requests that he stop.”

Mr. Fernandez also demonstrated that the supervisor’s conduct “was sufficiently humiliating to support a hostile work environment claim,” the ruling said.

“Considering the totality of the circumstances, guided by the appropriate factors, we conclude that Fernandez provided evidence sufficient to raise material issue of fact whether the harassment was objectively severe or pervasive,” it said, in overturning the lower court and remanding the case for further proceedings.

The panel did uphold dismissal of the national origin discrimination claim. The supervisor’s statement “no more Cuban people,” comment “although reprehensible – is not direct evidence that Fernandez was fired because of his national origin,” the panel said, in upholding that claim’s dismissal.

Mr. Fernandez’s attorney, Ricardo M. Corona, founder of the Corona Law Firm PA in Miami, said the appeals panel clarified the hostile work environment claim, which is “very helpful to plaintiffs.”

Trees Inc.’s attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

Last month, a federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of discrimination and hostile work environment claims made by a former JP Morgan Chase & Co. banker but reinstated his retaliation charge.