Black therapist reported racism at work — then got calls about the KKK, lawsuit says
Takiya Lawson-McCants had only been working as a therapist at a for-profit community services center in Alabama for a few months when a coordinator proudly announced she was from a “sundown town,” according to federal court filings.
“My dad hangs Black people who don’t leave town before the sun goes down,” the woman reportedly told her.
The comment was one of a slew of racist incidents Lawson-McCants said she has endured in the two years since she started working for Alabama Mentor, which provides services for individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including “therapeutic foster care.”
Now she’s suing.
In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Sept. 29 in the Northern District of Alabama, attorneys for Lawson-McCants accused Alabama Mentor of creating a racially hostile work environment for Black employees and retaliating against them when they complain in violation of anti-discrimination laws.
Representatives from Alabama Mentor declined to comment on pending litigation.
Artur Davis, a lawyer with HKM Employment Attorneys LLP who is representing Lawson-McCants, said she still works for the company but the environment is a “living hell for her.”
“The conduct she has experienced is nothing short of outrageous,” he told McClatchy News, calling it “the most virulent sort of racism in the workplace.”
Comments about lynching, racial slurs
Lawson-McCants has a master’s degree in social work and started at Alabama Mentor’s Birmingham facility in May 2019 as a therapist working with foster parents.
According to the complaint, the company hired a new program service coordinator the same year.
Shortly thereafter, attorneys said, the coordinator talked about the town where she was from — Arab, Alabama — and its history as a “sundown town” famous for lynching Black people. She’s also accused of “giggling” when she talked about it and emphasizing that the town is still dangerous for people of color.
“(Her) comments deeply disturbed plaintiff, but she tried to put them out of her mind and focus on serving her families in the field,” attorneys for Lawson-McCants said.
But the racism reportedly continued.
According to the complaint, the same coordinator repeatedly used racial slurs or derogatory terms such as “wig-wearing monkey” and “slave” to refer to Black coworkers. She also reportedly spoke “with pride” about her family’s history of lynching.
The coordinator’s hometown was a frequent topic of conversation, including threats of hanging Black children and barring Black people from living there, attorneys said.
“(She) claimed that 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,” the complaint states.
Lawson-McCants and another Black employee complained about the comments, but nothing reportedly came of it.
That employee later resigned. The coordinator, meanwhile, got a promotion, attorneys said.
‘Tool of intimidation’
The overtly racist remarks reportedly continued into April this year. According to the complaint, Lawson-McCants took advice from the Birmingham office program director at Alabama Mentor and sent an email to human resources detailing the discrimination she and other Black employees faced and asking for an investigation.
A few days later, her attorneys said, Lawson-McCants found a bungee cord in her backyard hanging from a tree like a noose.
She also reportedly got phone calls from a number in Arab, Alabama, warning her that the KKK was alive and well in Alabama.
“It’s hard to even put in words what that kind of call is like for an African American, it’s hard for me to put that in words,” Davis, Lawson-McCants’ lawyer, told McClatchy News. “We grow up thinking that the Klu Klux Klan is in the history books and to receive that kind of a message is the most profound kind of a threat that can be made.”
He also said nooses hanging in workplaces or outside homes have become a “tool of intimidation.”
“For some reason in the last several years the noose has become a symbol that certain racists have revived,” Davis said. “It’s a symbol that is almost a rallying cry for people who have this belief that we need to go back to the way things used to be.”
Facing pushback
Lawson-McCants filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, in May. The EEOC is tasked with safeguarding and enforcing anti-discrimination laws in the workplace, and anyone who wants to pursue a case for discrimination against their employer must go through the agency first.
Attorneys said Lawson-McCants has faced pushback from Alabama Mentor since the charges were filed, including threats of a mandatory arbitration agreement, random drug tests and allegations of “attitude problems.”
She’s also faced interference with her foster families and was given a mediocre performance evaluation, according to the complaint.
“With the fear of retaliatory termination swinging over her head like Damocles’ sword, plaintiff has become physically and mentally exhausted,” attorneys said. “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.”
The EEOC issued a right-to-sue notice at the end of June, prompting attorneys for Lawson-McCants to file the complaint.
The lawsuit accuses Alabama Mentor of violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and seeks an injunction barring the company from engaging in further discriminatory employment practices. Lawson-McCants is also asking for extensive damages.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 6:48 PM with the headline "Black therapist reported racism at work — then got calls about the KKK, lawsuit says."
