Former forensic scientist at Topeka lab sues KBI alleging discrimination on sex, race, age
A former forensic scientist at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation laboratory in Topeka is suing, alleging she was discriminated against.
Deborah Broil, who is 74-year-old Black woman, is alleging race, sex and age discrimination, as well as retaliation.
"The harassment Plaintiff suffered resulted in a hostile work environment," the lawsuit states. "The discrimination and retaliation culminated in her wrongful termination for complaining about such discrimination and harassment."
Broil is being represented by Bratcher Gockel Law.
"We disagree with the claims made in this civil suit, and plan to aggressively defend the matter in court," said KBI spokesperson Melissa Underwood. "We are unable to comment further on pending litigation."
Broil was employed by the KBI from April 2019 to December 2022. She was a forensic scientist at the Topeka lab, which is on Washburn University's campus.
Broil filed charges of discrimination with the Kansas Human Rights Commission and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission both during her employment and afterward. The lawsuit doesn't say what the results of those reports were, other than the EEOC issued a notice of right to sue in October 2023. EEOC charge records are confidential.
She alleges she was denied training opportunities that were available to younger, white colleagues, that a co-worker left an offensive movie on her desk and that there were disputes over office instruments.
That culminated in May 2021 with Broil vomiting at work due to the "hostile, tense, and stressful" work environment, the lawsuit alleges. By June, she "had lost so much hair due to the stress and hostility that she had to shave her head." Meanwhile, she said, human resources refused to let her file complaints.
In October, as she was working on an instrument, a colleague "told her that the Chinese Wuhan Lab was making a Negro Virus," the lawsuit alleges. He laughed, then followed with "You know, the virus that will cause your arms and legs to rot," to which another colleague said "Oh, necrotic?"
The lawsuit alleges the KBI continued to deny Broil training and conference opportunities, as well as the opportunity to seek the crime scene investigator position.
In August 2022, she was placed in a retraining program because "there was no record of her original training" that she had completed when she was first hired. The lawsuit alleges that during the retraining, she was initially not provided all of the necessary materials, and it was unfairly designed so she "would fail to complete it."
"The discrimination and retaliation culminated in her termination after another unfair and inaccurate performance review that stated Plaintiff did not complete the retraining program in a timely manner," the lawsuit states.
Among her requests are that the court grant her compensation for past wages and benefits plus punitive damages.
Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas forensic scientist alleges sex, race, age discrimination at KBI
