Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 1 of 22 FILED

2021 Sep-29 PM 03:44

U.S. DISTRICT COURT
N.D. OF ALABAMA

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
SOUTHERN DIVISION

TAKIYA LAWSON-MCCANTS, )
)
Plaintiff, )
)
v. ) CASE NO:
)
NATIONAL MENTOR )
HEALTHCARE, LLC ) JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
D/B/A ALABAMA MENTOR, )
)
Defendant. )

COMPLAINT

Plaintiff Takiya Lawson-McCants (“Plaintiff” or “Lawson”), by and through

her undersigned counsel, hereby makes her Complaint against Defendant National

Mentor Healthcare, LLC d/b/a Alabama Mentor (“Defendant” or “AL-Mentor”) for

violations of Title VII of The Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 1981 on the basis that Defendant (employer) subjected Plaintiff

(employee) to a racially hostile work environment and unlawful retaliation. As

grounds for her Complaint, Plaintiff states as follows:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

1. This is a complaint for legal and equitable relief to redress violations

by the Defendant of the Plaintiff’s rights secured by:

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 2 of 22

a. The Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981 (“Section

1981”), as amended;

b. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, (“Title VII”), as

amended, by 42 U.S.C. § 2000e, et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 1981a.

2. Federal subject matter jurisdiction exists pursuant to:

a. 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331, 1343(a)(3); and

b. Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-5(f)(3).

3. Venue in this District is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b)(2) and

42 U.S.C. § 2000e–5(f)(3).

PARTIES

4. Plaintiff is an African American, adult female whom Defendant

currently employs as a Therapist in Jefferson County, Alabama at its Birmingham

(Homewood) location.

5. Defendant National Mentor Healthcare, LLC is a for-profit company

that does business under the name “Alabama Mentor” in Jefferson County,

Alabama, among other locations, and purports to provide health and human services

for individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Defendant is

part of a national organization called “the MENTOR network” which also does

business, upon information and belief, under the name “Sevita.”

NATURE OF THE ACTION

6. Plaintiff brings this action to redress unlawful practices and acts of

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 3 of 22

intentional discrimination which Defendant, as Plaintiff’s employer, committed and

continues to commit.

7. This lawsuit seeks to redress grievances resulting from actions of

Defendant, its agents, servants, and employees with respect to Plaintiff’s

employment and otherwise.

ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES

8. On May 28, 2021, and within 180 days of an act contributing to the

racially discriminatory hostile work environment about which she complains1 —

and also within 180 days of Defendant’s initial unlawful retaliatory actions towards

her — Plaintiff (without counsel) filed a Charge of Discrimination with the Equal

Employment Opportunity Commission, (“EEOC”), Charge No. 420-2021-01673,

alleging violations of Title VII. (See Exhibit A).2

9. On June 30, 2021, the EEOC issued a Dismissal and Notice of Rights

on Charge No. 420-2021-01673, which was received on or about July 5, 2021. (See

1
Unlike discriminatory acts that are discrete in nature, hostile work environment claims are
“composed of a series of separate acts that collectively constitute one ‘unlawful employment
practice.’” Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp. v. Morgan, 536 U.S. 101, 117 (2002) (citing 42 U.S.C. §
2000e-5(e)(1)). “Provided that an act contributing to the claim occurs within the filing period, the
entire time period of the hostile environment may be considered by a court for the purposes of
determining liability.” Id. at 117. See also Shields v. Fort James Corp., 305 F.3d 1280, 1282 (11th
Cir. 2002) (“Put simply, if the smallest portion of the ‘practice’ occurred within the limitations
period, then the court should consider it as a whole.”).
2
Although she discussed some of the details with the EEOC intake personnel, Plaintiff had some
of the more shocking facts omitted from the initial charge because she was afraid — and rightly
so, as explained in this Complaint.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 4 of 22

Exhibit B).

10. Plaintiff filed this action within 90 days of receipt of the EEOC’s

Notice of Rights letter; this action was, therefore, timely filed.

11. On August 18, 2021, because Defendant’s unlawful retaliation has

continued even after the EEOC issued its Notice of Right letter, Plaintiff obtained

counsel and filed a second Charge of Discrimination, Charge No. 420-2021-02742,

alleging further violations of Title VII. (See Exhibit C).

12. Plaintiff’s Second Charge is still pending before the EEOC.

Accordingly, she expressly reserves the right to amend this Complaint after the

EEOC concludes its investigation and issues a second Notice of Rights letter.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

13. Plaintiff earned a master’s degree in social work from Samford

University. She has utilized the training and education obtained during her advanced

studies while working for AL-Mentor as a “Therapist,” a position that Plaintiff

currently holds and has held since the beginning of her employment with Defendant

in approximately May 2019.

14. As a Therapist, Plaintiff works closely with adults who have agreed

to serve as foster parents for AL-Mentor. Plaintiff establishes relationships with

AL-Mentor’s foster parents and foster children and routinely visits these families

in the home to, among other things, ensure they receive appropriate therapeutic
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 5 of 22

training, care, and support.

15. Alex Morgan (“Morgan”) (Caucasian, female) began working for

AL-Mentor in 2019 as a Program Service Coordinator (“PSC”).

16. In approximately mid-2019, early in Plaintiff’s employment, Morgan

announced that she was from a “Sundown Town.” Morgan told Plaintiff something

along the lines of: “My dad hangs black people who don’t leave town before the

sun goes down.”

17. The term “Sundown Town” derives from signs once openly displayed

in racist municipalities, neighborhoods, and counties warning African Americans

they would be executed (e.g., hung from a tree) if caught in the area after the “sun

went down.”3

18. Morgan’s hometown — Arab, Alabama — is, indeed, historically

recognized as one of the most notorious Sundown Towns in the United States.4

19. Plaintiff recalls Morgan “giggling” and repeating herself at least once

the first time Morgan spoke about the alleged brutal, racist legacy of her family and

Arab, Alabama.

20. Morgan also made it clear that Arab is still a dangerous place for

3
E.g., Patricia Reid-Merritt, A State-by-State History of Race and Racism in the United States (1st
ed. 2018) (“The term ‘sundown’ derives from signs posted at city limits warning African
Americans to ‘not let the sun go down on you here.’”).
4
See James W. Loewen, Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism (1st ed. 2006)
(“Sundown During the Daytime: A few towns, including . . . Arab, Alabama . . . did not allow
African Americans within their city limits even during the day) (emphasis in original).
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 6 of 22

African Americans (or any person of color) who are, to this day, allegedly

unwelcome there.

21. Morgan’s comments deeply disturbed Plaintiff, but she tried to put

them out of her mind and focus on serving her families in the field.

22. Unfortunately, Morgan’s Sundown Town declaration was only the

beginning for Plaintiff and her African American and biracial co-workers.

23. Consistently and countless times from approximately summer 2019

until April 2021, Morgan subjected Plaintiff (and her African American co-

workers)5 to the following sort of conduct, among other things:

a. Morgan routinely referred to people of color, including

Plaintiff, as niggers, nigga, blacks, black crispy, black bitch,
greedy nigger bitches, mess, dry-head, monkeys, wig-wearing
monkey, slave, and inferiors.

b. Morgan often recounted her family’s alleged lynching and

hanging activities with pride. She did this one-on-one with
African American employees like Plaintiff and also openly
during Defendant’s staff meetings, among other places.
Morgan’s description to Plaintiff of racist violence by a relative
was akin to an employee regaling a colleague who was a sex
assault survivor with tales of a relative committing rape: in other
words, profoundly offensive and belittling.

c. Morgan frequently spoke about the ever-present dangers of

Arab for people of color. She said that even African American
children would be hung from trees, and that no African
Americans were allowed to live in Arab. Morgan claimed that

5
Former AL-Mentor employees Courtney Craig and Carla Jackson (both African American),
along with former AL-Mentor foster parent Dorothy Malone (African American), have already
come forward as witnesses in support of Plaintiff. These are likely the first of many.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 7 of 22

the penalty for hosting an African American or biracial person

in an Arab neighborhood after sunset was, at the very least, a
burning cross in the yard.

d. Morgan often claimed she manipulated Defendant into hiring a

few “blacks,” despite an absurd belief that African Americans
are incompetent and lazy, because it made AL-Mentor more
likely to withstand race-related public scrutiny.

e. Morgan’s text messages sometimes circulated around the

Birmingham office, and these included derogatory racial
comments and content.

24. In 2019, upon information and belief, former AL-Mentor’s PSC

Courtney Craig (African American, female) reported Morgan’s conduct, among

other things, to AL-Mentor’s Director of Services, Shalisa Grantham (Caucasian,

female), and to Joy Grafton (Caucasian, female), Defendant’s former Area

Director.

25. Ms. Craig feared retaliation but was assured, upon information and

belief, that something would be done to address her concerns.

26. Plaintiff feared retaliation as well, but she also reported Morgan’s

comments about Arab and hangings to Grantham, her direct report, in 2019.

27. Despite complaints of serious misconduct by both Craig and Plaintiff,

Morgan remained employed; indeed, Morgan’s conduct continued and worsened

into late 2019 at which point Meranda Bice (Caucasian, female) assumed the

Birmingham Program Director position.

28. Bice quickly befriended Alex Morgan and Stevie McGhee

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 8 of 22

(Caucasian, female), the other Birmingham PSC, while excluding African

American employees like Plaintiff and Craig at every opportunity.

29. These Caucasian women participated in a group chat in which they

discussed, and shared their research, regarding prospective employees’ race.

30. Bice, too, openly demonstrated discriminatory animus in the

workplace. For example, Bice often referred to African Americans as “these

people” and accused African American foster parents of being greedy and “just

wanting money.”

31. Bice was vocal about her desire to employ only Caucasian people at

the Birmingham location. According to one former employee, “Merenda wanted

everyone to be white.”

32. Further, Bice, along with Morgan and McGhee, began

“badmouthing” Defendant’s African American employees, including Craig and

Plaintiff, to “foster families and kids.”

33. Exhausted and frustrated because, among other things, her

complaints went unaddressed, Craig resigned in June 2020.

34. Courtney Craig noted: “I have never been in a work environment like

[AL-Mentor] in my 8+ years career experience.” She also said: “I went so far to

leave a review on Indeed for Mentor. I did not and do not want anyone especially

of color to work for them.”

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 9 of 22

35. AL-Mentor did worse than nothing with the complaints about Alex

Morgan; the company actually promoted Morgan. In October 2020, AL-Mentor

elevated Morgan from PSC to Recertification Coordinator.

36. In November 2020, AL-Mentor foster parent Dorothy Malone

(African American, female) learned about Morgan’s racist behavior and went

directly to the AL-Mentor State Director Deanna Hand6 (Caucasian, female) to

report Morgan.

37. Upon information and belief, Ms. Malone informed Director Hand

about many (if not all) of the allegations set forth in paragraph 23, supra.

38. Again, Morgan remained employed and unaffected; nothing

improved for Plaintiff or her African American or biracial co-workers.

39. In fact, Morgan, with her penchant for flagrant and constant racist

remarks, remained elevated to a position that enhanced her power to damage and

affect African American employees.

40. Morgan referred to Lawson in vitriolic and racist terms. She openly

referred to Plaintiff as a (1) slave working the field where she belongs, and (2) “a

loudmouth black bitch wig wearing monkey nigga,” among other awful things.

41. Morgan began taking Plaintiff off her assigned cases without reason

6
This is date is based on Malone’s recollection. Documents indicate she may have made the
complaint to Hand as early as March 2020 when Morgan shared her Sundown Town narrative
directly with Malone. Hand remains the State Director to this day, upon information and belief.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 10 of 22

or authority and interfering with Plaintiff’s ability to serve her families. In one

instance, Plaintiff called the foster parent from whose case she was removed and

learned that Morgan “asked him to lie on [her] to get [her] removed off the case.”

42. Upon information and belief, in approximately late March of 2019,

Plaintiff complained to Birmingham Office Program Director Cassidy Dear

(African American, female), her new direct report, about Morgan’s misconduct and

racism.

43. A week or so later, upon information and belief, Plaintiff found

herself accused (falsely and for the first time) of Medicaid fraud.

44. In early April 2021 — on Dear’s advice — Plaintiff sent AL-

Mentor’s Human Resources Manager, Mariel Frantz (Caucasian, female), an email

titled: “Racism and Harassment in the workplace.”

45. In this email, Plaintiff detailed Alex Morgan’s racist misconduct,

supplied witnesses’ names and telephone numbers, and requested an investigation

along with an end to unlawful race discrimination and harassment.

46. Plaintiff also informed Frantz of suspicious circumstances that led

her to suspect Morgan might have access to (and may have been reading) her

emails.

47. A few days after her formal complaint against Morgan, Plaintiff

found a noose hanging from a tree in her backyard next to her children’s
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 11 of 22

trampoline.7

48. Plaintiff’s cell phone began ringing with calls from Arab, Alabama,

and she was then expressly warned (by someone she hesitates to publicly identify)

that the Ku Klux Klan is still active and dangerous in Alabama.

49. Plaintiff and her co-worker, Carla Jackson (African American,

female) then filed Charges of Discrimination with the EEOC in May 2021 alleging

race discrimination and retaliation; they prepared these Charges without an

attorney’s assistance.

50. In response, Defendant hired the largest employment law defense

firm in the United States to advance its interests and combat their Charges.

51. Despite egregious, corroborated allegations against Alex Morgan,

Defendant did not fire her.8

52. In early June 2021, Plaintiff and Jackson were targeted with

“mandatory arbitration agreements” and told they would lose their jobs if they

refused to sign away their right to a jury trial.9

7
The racist, threatening symbol staged on Plaintiff’s property appears to be a bungee cord that
someone hastily fashioned to hold the shape of a noose hanging from a tree. (See photographs in
Exhibit C). The cord did not have a perfect noose knot, but the message was clear, and Plaintiff
received it. Prior to her complaint about Morgan, Plaintiff had never encountered racist symbols
or images on her property.
8
Defendant simply offered the already-promoted Morgan a transfer opportunity, which she
declined. Upon information and belief, Morgan is currently employed doing similar work for a
different institution.
9
This “sign it or you’re fired” threat looms over Plaintiff’s head to this day.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 12 of 22

53. A couple weeks later, also in June 2021, Plaintiff and Jackson were

“randomly” given preemployment drug tests. Despite two years of employment

with Defendant, Plaintiff had never once been drug tested.

54. In early July 2021, Plaintiff and Jackson were confronted about

alleged attitude problems in a conference call with Program Director Ataska

Winsett, Area Director Jenni Akins, and new Birmingham Program Director

Cassidy Dear.

55. Winsett and Akins made no distinction between Jackson and Plaintiff.

Plaintiff described the “meeting” in her Second EEOC Charge as follows:

I was lumped in with [Jackson] . . . and told things like ‘y’all are
negative.’ I asked for clarification so that I could know exactly what I
had done wrong so that I could fix it. I wasn’t given clarity. My direct
report, Cassidy, backed me up verbally and in writing, letting me know
that I did the right thing.

56. A few weeks later, on July 26, 2021, Plaintiff received her first ever

disciplinary action, which was disguised as a “record of discussion.” Winsett

falsely accused Plaintiff of a negative attitude and of lacking proper respect, among

other conveniently subjective nonsense.

57. Cassidy Dear, Plaintiff’s direct report, verbally expressed her

disagreement with the discipline to Plaintiff.

58. Winsett, and others, then began sabotaging Plaintiff’s ability to service

her foster families. A few examples follow:

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 13 of 22

a. Plaintiff was directed to stop visiting certain parents and

children as often as she previously did;

b. AL-Mentors changed Plaintiff’s hours and compensation

structure such that she has no choice but to deviate from
established routines with families;

c. Winsett began interfering with AL-Mentor’s much-needed (and

contractually owed) payments to the families Plaintiff works
with;

d. Plaintiff has been unable to obtain critical support, which was

available prior to her complaints. For example, a foster child
became a suicide risk and needed intervention, and Plaintiff’s
efforts to protect the child were, for the first time ever, ignored;
and

e. Treatment plans necessary for Plaintiff to do her job effectively

are now suspiciously unavailable, and Plaintiff cannot obtain
them despite her best efforts.

59. After providing the foregoing myriad reasons for foster parents to find

fault with Plaintiff, Winsett (among others) began calling Plaintiff’s parents fishing

for negative information to use against her, but she did not succeed.

60. Accordingly, Winsett then began calling the foster children directly

and probing them for information to use against Plaintiff, asking questions like:

“How do you feel about Takiya?”; “Is she coming over on time?”; and “How many

days a week does she see you?”

61. In late August 2021, Dorothy Malone, one of Plaintiff’s foster parents,

confronted Ataska Winsett publicly about this behavior, which Ms. Malone

described as very strange based on her years of experience with Defendant.

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 14 of 22

62. About a week later, in early September 2021, AL-Mentors dismissed

Malone from its Program in breach of Defendant’s contract with Malone.

63. On September 13, 2021, Plaintiff received her first ever performance

evaluation. She received mediocre evaluations in several key aspects.

64. Written evaluations were not a customary practice at AL-Mentor and

prior to lodging complaints about discrimination, Plaintiff had never received one.

65. Plaintiff attempted to obtain specific details about how she could

improve any alleged deficiencies, and she is still waiting.

66. Interestingly, Plaintiff’s verbal annual performance discussion with

Ms. Dear was much more positive than the document indicates.

67. Plaintiff asked Ms. Dear if marked performance improvement could

possibly result in raises, bonuses, or other incentives.

68. Ms. Dear told Plaintiff she was not eligible for any such incentives.

Strangely, the position Plaintiff holds is currently available online and an annual

bonus plan, among other things, is part of the benefits package.

69. With the fear of retaliatory termination swinging over her head like

Damocles’ sword, Plaintiff has become physically and mentally exhausted.

70. Plaintiff continues to be employed by AL-Mentors but given the

litany of retaliatory acts on their part, she is in constant fear of termination.

71. Plaintiff has challenged the above-cited employment matters with

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 15 of 22

respect, tact, and grace on numerous occasions in verbal and written complaints to

her entire reporting structure alongside AL-Mentor’s Human Resources

Department.

72. To that end, Plaintiff has had to voice her concerns about retaliatory

actions and animus every month since she filed her first EEOC Charge in May

2021.

73. This lawsuit is Plaintiff’s latest attempt to obtain justice, and some

sense of peace, equality, and a work environment free from unlawful retaliation.

CAUSES OF ACTION

Count I
(Racially Hostile Work Environment in
Violation of Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981)

74. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates by reference the allegations set

forth in paragraphs 4-5, 8-11, and 13-51 above as if fully repeated and set forth

herein.

75. As an African American, Plaintiff belongs to a protected group, and

the hostile work environment claim made Count I of this Complaint is based upon

Plaintiff’s race.

76. Defendant subjected Plaintiff to racial harassment in the form of a

hostile work environment. In support of this averment, Plaintiff states she was

intentionally subjected to, among other things: (1) outrageously offensive racist
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 16 of 22

comments by Alex Morgan like being referred to as a slave in the field, nigger, wig-

wearing monkey, nigga, nigger bitch, and numerous other similarly horrific racially

derogatory terms; (2) severe, race-based threats against her life, including finding

a noose in her backyard and being reminded over-and-over again that Morgan’s

family hangs and lynches “blacks”; (3) offensive comments and actions by

supervisors such as Meranda Bice who often referred to African Americans as

“these people” and accused them of being greedy and “just wanting money,” and

Bice’s belief that African American employees were inferior (lazy and

incompetent); (4) being excluded by AL-Mentor’s Caucasian management and

employees from comradery and office group chats, which often contained racially

offensive comments and content; and, among many other things; (5) being ignored

and abandoned by Caucasian managers from the Birmingham Program Director all

the way to the State Director for almost two years despite multiple complaints about

Morgan’s racist comments, attitude, and actions.

77. The harassment and hostile work environment described herein was

severe, pervasive (constant and continuous, ¶ 23, supra), humiliating, and it

unreasonably interfered with Plaintiff’s work performance to such an extent that

the racial harassment and hostile work environment altered the terms and conditions

of Plaintiff’s employment and created a racially discriminatory, abusive working

environment.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 17 of 22

78. AL-Mentor is liable under Title VII and Section 1981 for the racial

harassment. Defendant knowingly employed the individuals who created the

racially hostile work environment, including Alex Morgan and Meranda Bice, and

ignored serious, corroborated complaints about horrific, racist misconduct for

years. Further, this intentional discrimination against Plaintiff affected her

enjoyment of the benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of her employment and

contractual relationship with Defendant.

79. These discriminatory acts proximately caused Plaintiff to suffer severe

emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation, shame, and

trauma, and the potential for financial losses.

80. Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, interest, nominal,

compensatory and punitive damages for humiliation, embarrassment, and mental

anguish, costs, attorneys’ fees and, to the extent Plaintiff suffers financial losses, an

award of back pay, front pay, and reinstatement, along with any other relief the trier

of fact may assess, or the Court may Order.

Count II
(Retaliation/Retaliatory Hostile Work Environment
in Violation of Title VII and 42 U.S.C. § 1981)

81. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates by reference the allegations set forth

in paragraphs 4-5, 8-11, 13-27, 35-73 above as if fully repeated and set forth herein.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 18 of 22

82. This is a claim against AL-Mentor for unlawful and intentional acts of

retaliation against Plaintiff for engaging in statutorily protected activity, which

affected her enjoyment of the benefits, privileges, terms, and conditions of her

employment and contractual relationship with Defendant.

83. Plaintiff engaged in statutorily protected activity when she complained

to Cassidy Dear, her direct report, in approximately late March 2021 about Alex

Morgan and race discrimination. Plaintiff again engaged in protected activity in early

April 2021 when she sent a detailed email titled “Racism and Harassment in the

workplace” to her supervisors and to AL-Mentor’s Human Resources. Plaintiff’s

EEOC Charges in May and August 2021 were statutorily protected, as is this lawsuit

along with all the verbal and written complaints Plaintiff has made to AL-Mentor

since May 2021 regarding unlawful employment practices. Defendant, of course,

knew Plaintiff engaged in these statutorily protected activities.

84. Upon information and belief, shortly after Plaintiff’s first complaint in

2021, she was accused of fraud, falsely and for the first time. Within a few days of

Plaintiff’s first formal complaint to HR in April 2021, Plaintiff found a noose in her

yard, and her cell phone began ringing with calls from Arab, Alabama. The drug

test, arbitration agreement, discipline, and evaluation (among the other things

detailed in the following paragraph) followed, one after the other, all for the first

time and only after Plaintiff opposed race discrimination in the workplace.
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 19 of 22

85. In retaliation for Plaintiff’s protected activity, AL-Mentor subjected her

to the following adverse employment actions which would dissuade a reasonable

worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination: (1) ignored and

abandoned by her entire Caucasian chain of command despite serious, corroborated

complaints about Morgan’s racist attitude and actions; (2) taunted and threatened by

racist symbols, remarks, and phone calls from Arab, Alabama; (3) singled out for a

“random” drug test; (4) repeatedly threatened with termination for refusing to sign

away her right to a jury trial, a flagrant violation of federal anti-retaliation laws, see

Knox v. Roper Pump Company, 957 F.3d 1237 (11th Cir. 2020) (reversing district

court and finding that forcing contract as condition of employment on discharged

employee who complained about race discrimination constituted retaliation under

Title VII); see also Goldsmith v. Bagby Elevator Co., 513 F.3d 1261 (11th Cir.

2008); (5) fabricated disciplinary documents and meetings like those related to the

July 2021 “record of discussion”; (6) supervisors fishing for negative information to

use against her; (7) obstructing Plaintiff’s ability to do her job and service families

as detailed in paragraph 58, supra; (8) mediocre performance evaluation in several

key aspects; (9) having to watch AL-Mentor retaliate against a foster parent who

stood up for Plaintiff; and, among other things, (10) being denied financial

opportunities, such as an annual bonus, available to Therapists who have not

opposed unlawful workplace discrimination.

 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 20 of 22

86. Defendant’s unlawful retaliatory acts proximately caused Plaintiff to

suffer severe emotional distress, mental anguish, embarrassment, humiliation,

shame, and trauma, and the potential for financial losses.

87. Plaintiff seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, interest, nominal,

compensatory and punitive damages for humiliation, embarrassment, and mental

anguish, costs, attorneys’ fees and, to the extent Plaintiff suffers financial losses, an

award of back pay, front pay, and reinstatement, along with any other relief the trier

of fact may assess, or the Court may Order.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

WHEREFORE, Plaintiff respectfully requests that this Court grant the relief

sought through each of the above-stated Counts and:

a. Grant a permanent injunction enjoining Defendant, its officers,

successors, assigns and all persons in active concert or
participation with it, from engaging further in its discriminatory
treatment on the basis of race and retaliation based on protected
activity;

b. Order Defendant to institute and carry out policies, practices

and programs which provide equal provisions and employment
opportunities for all employees, and which eradicate the effects
of its past and present unlawful employment practices,
including implementing policies against race discrimination in
the workplace and against retaliation for engaging in protected
activities;

c. Order Defendant to make Plaintiff whole by providing the

above-request relief including nominal, compensatory, and
punitive damages with prejudgment interest, in amounts to be
proved at trial, and other affirmative relief necessary to
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 21 of 22

eradicate the effects of its unlawful employment practices,

including, but not limited to, termination of Ataska Winsett,
Jenni Akins, and Deanna Hand;

d. Award the Plaintiff her costs and expenses, including

reasonable attorney fees; and

e. Award such other and further relief which this Court deems
necessary and proper.

Finally, given that Plaintiff is a current employee and Defendant’s retaliatory

acts are continuing in nature, Plaintiff hereby notifies AL-Mentor that she intends to

amend this complaint to capture further acts of retaliation (e.g., termination).

Plaintiff avers that justice would require such an amendment, and that Defendant

cannot defeat Plaintiff’s efforts to amend by claiming prejudice in light of this

express notice. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 15(a)(2).

PLAINTIFF DEMANDS A TRIAL BY STRUCK JURY

Respectfully submitted,

Brian O. Noble
ASB-9735-R39N
Co-Counsel for Plaintiff

Artur Davis
ASB-3672-D56A
Co-Counsel for Plaintiff
 Case 2:21-cv-01305-SGC Document 1 Filed 09/29/21 Page 22 of 22

OF COUNSEL:

CAPSTONE LAW, LLC

Brian O. Noble, Esq.
3105 Sunview Drive 43888
Vestavia, Alabama 35243
Phone: (205) 578-1210
E-mail: brian.noble@caplawllc.com

HKM EMPLOYMENT ATTORNEYS

Artur G. Davis, Esq.
3355 Lenox Road, NE Suite 705
Atlanta GA 30326
Phone: (404) 220-9165
Email: adavis@hkm.com

Defendant to be hand-served at:

National Mentor Healthcare, LLC
(Entity ID Number 607 – 547)
Corporation Service Company, Inc.
641 South Lawrence Street
Montgomery, Alabama 36014