Horry nonprofit director was in COVID-induced coma. Then unlawfully fired, she alleges
After spending about a month in a coma due to COVID-19 complications, the executive director of a prominent Horry County nonprofit was unceremoniously fired — a dismissal she alleges was illegal.
Tracy Whitten filed a wrongful termination lawsuit Thursday against her former employer, the Rape Crisis Center of Horry and Georgetown Counties, and its former board chairwoman, Lucy Richards.
The rape crisis center declined, via its current executive director, to comment on the pending legal matter. The director also informed The Sun News that Richards is no longer a board member.
A voicemail message left at a number listed for Richards was not immediately returned. Messages left for Whitten and her attorney also were not returned.
The termination violated Whitten’s rights under the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act and threatened medical benefits during a time of great need, the complaint states.
Rape Crisis Center of Horry and Georgetown Counties former executive director files a lawsuit
Whitten was hired July 2019 and helped the center escape financial strife — it owed $40,000 in back taxes at the time — while keeping it “afloat” during the early months of the pandemic, according to her complaint.
The pandemic eventually struck Whitten, who suffers from Lupus, during April 2021, and she was taken by ambulance to Grand Strand Medical Center’s emergency room after losing consciousness from COVID-related pneumonia, the lawsuit states.
Days later, Whitten suffered a heart attack and stroke, was declared medically deceased, and was placed in a coma after being revived, the suit states.
While Whitten was in a coma, Richards assured Whitten’s husband that the allegations were determined to be unfounded, and her job was safe, according to the complaint.
Whitten was taken out of her coma May 5, 2021 and placed on a tracheotomy tube, limiting her ability to speak, move, walk or write. She texted Richards May 21 about the center and was told to “just take it one day at a time,” the suit states.
But that same day, the center’s board met and voted to terminate Whitten, who was told days later that it was because she was “not being a strong enough leader,” she alleges.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
