Black lesbian files federal wrongful termination suit

Pottsville, Pennsylvania – A Pottsville African-American lesbian filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in federal court last month, claiming she was fired from her job as a nursing assistant after using female pronouns to refer to her life partner during a workplace conversation. “Jane Doe” filed suit in the Middle District of Pennsylvania against Saber Healthcare Group on September 28th. She’s seeking in excess of $150,000 in damages. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani, based in Scranton. A jury trial has been requested.

In September 2022, Doe, 25, began working for Saber as a certified nursing assistant. Saber provides skilled nursing care, long-term care and senior rehabilitation services. Doe worked at Saber’s nursing home facility in Tremont, Pennsylvania. She claims she was subjected to a hostile work environment due to her race, sex, sexual orientation, and gender nonconformity. Moreover, Doe alleges retaliation by Saber after she complained of alleged workplace discrimination, according to the 30-page lawsuit.

In October 2022, Doe had a conversation with a colleague about her life partner, whom she referred to using female pronouns. The conversation was overheard by a supervisor, who allegedly said, “I don’t believe in gay marriage,” according to the lawsuit. Following that conversation, Doe allegedly was mistreated in various ways at Saber. For example, the hours of her work shifts were shortened, without explanation. As a result, Doe suffered a loss of income. On December 11th, 2022, a resident of Saber allegedly hit Doe quite forcefully. The alleged assault was severe enough to constitute workplace harassment. Doe promptly reported the assault, but her supervisor merely laughed, according to the lawsuit. On December 13th, 2022, the resident who allegedly assaulted Doe referred to Doe as a “brownie” when Doe delivered food to the resident, according to the lawsuit. Later that day, Doe complained about the alleged mistreatment to the facility’s administrator. The administrator allegedly encouraged Doe to resign, according to the lawsuit and two days later she allegedly was fired. Attorneys for both sides had no comment for this story. (Philadelphia Gay News -Tim Cwiek at Epgn.com/2023/10/11/african-american-lesbian-files-wrongful-termination-lawsuit-in-federal-court)