Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, one of the “Tennessee Three,” has filed a lawsuit against House Speaker Cameron Sexton.

According to The Hill, Jones’ campaign said Tuesday (Oct. 3) that he filed the lawsuit to hold Sexton accountable “for his anti-democratic and unconstitutional actions.” It alleges that the speaker violated Jones’ constitutional right to free speech and the 14th Amendment due to “disparate racial treatment.”

"Today my attorneys filed a federal lawsuit to hold Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton responsible for his unconstitutional and discriminatory actions," Jones said on X, formerly known as Twitter. "The people of District 52 deserve to have their voices heard without the threat of undemocratic silencing and retaliation."

The 46-page complaint — citing the amendment clause that no state “shall deny any person with its jurisdiction the protection of the laws”  — names Sexton and other co-defendants: state House chief clerk Tammy Letzer, state House Chief Sergeant at Arms Bobby Trotter and parliamentarian Daniel Hicks.

Jones references multiple occasions where he, a Black man, was treated differently than his white counterparts because of his race.

Earlier this year, Jones was expelled from the state House. He says that he was voted to be expelled but state Rep. Gloria Johnson, a white woman who “engaged in the exact same speech and protest” did not receive expulsion.

Jones, Johnson and state Rep. Justin Pearson were involved in a gun rights protest that took place on the House floor in April, in response to a shooter opening fire in a Nashville school that left six people dead. Jones and Pearson, both Black, were voted to be expelled, while Johnson survived her expulsion vote.

The vote to expel Jones, Johnson and Pearson led to the trio being dubbed the “Tennessee Three.”

On April 10, Jones was reinstated to the House but still feels the effects of the expulsion. The complaint also states that Sexton and his co-defendants stopped him “from expressing views on critical issues that he was elected to express, ensuring that viewpoints dissenting from their own are silenced, neither heard nor spoken.”

The lawsuit goes on to state that Sexton and his co-defendants' violations have harmed Jones’ legislative service, including his seniority and retirement benefits.

In August, Tennessee’s House Republicans voted to silence Jones during a heated special session debating on bills after Sexton declared Jones out of order. It was determined that Jones had breached the chamber’s newly adopted rules by getting off topic from the debated bill. Jones announced at the time he planned to call for a vote of no confidence in Sexton due to his abuse of power and “dishonor to the public office he holds.”