Black Staffer Sues Planned Parenthood For Allegedly Firing Her After Complaints Of Racial Discrimination
A Black former Planned Parenthood director sued the reproductive health organization on Wednesday (Oct. 19) for allegedly firing her as retaliation for her complaints about workplace race discrimination.
In the federal lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Nicole Moore said the organization has “blatantly ignored reports by dozens of its Black employees of systemic unequal hiring and promotion, more work for lower pay, overt hostility, and trafficking in stereotypes by leadership.”
According to the lawsuit, Moore began working for Planned Parenthood on Jan. 13, 2020 as the organization’s director of multicultural brand engagement. Her job involved increasing engagement and marketing the organization to Black and Latino communities.
Moore alleges that the vice president over the brand and culture department was “inexplicably hostile toward her.” Colleagues told Moore that the supervisor had a reputation of being antagonistic toward Black women, including Moore’s predecessor who stepped down because of the ill treatment.
According to the lawsuit, Moore complained “politely” about the inequalities she observed in the workplace but was “falsely accused of being negative, angry, difficult to work with.” Executives in the organization responded to her complaints by sabotaging her projects and with “unfounded disciplinary measures” to silence her.
Moore said the pressure led to her hospitalization after suffering a severe panic attack. Planned Parenthood eventually fired her.
Reuters reports that Moore’s lawyers released a statement alleging that the racist work environment at Planned Parenthood spills over to the quality of care it provides to Black women.
"If staffers are dealing with anti-Blackness, retaliation, and disregard in the workplace, how can we then expect this organization to possibly deliver compassionate care to Black women who are seeking their services?" the statement said, according to Reuters.
Planned Parenthood didn’t immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comments.
Black women are three times more likely to suffer maternal death than white women, according to the CDC. The agency blames multiple factors for the racial disparities, including access to quality healthcare, underlying chronic conditions, structural racism and implicit bias.
