Henderson County sued for racial discrimination and 'intolerable' workplace
A former Henderson County Department of Social Services worker is suing Henderson County for what the lawsuit says was racial discrimination after years of enduring a “hostile” work environment.
Marlene Wilkerson, who is Black, initially filed the lawsuit March 1. She amended the complaint May 15. Wilkerson is also accusing Henderson County of paying her less than her white counterparts and creating a workplace so “intolerable” that she resigned. She is suing for the monetary losses she sustained, as well as for the anguish she endured.
Wilkerson is suing under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which according to the complaint “makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against any individual with respect to her compensation, terms, conditions, or privileges of employment, because of such individual’s race.”
Sean Perrin, a Charlotte-based attorney who is representing Henderson County in this case, said in a statement that the county cannot comment on pending litigation.
Perrin filed a motion to dismiss Wilkerson’s amended complaint May 26. In the memo that accompanied that motion, Perrin argued that Wilkerson did not support her legal conclusions with factual allegations, that the work environment she described was not “sufficiently severe or pervasive” to qualify as hostile and that she did not adequately support her pay discrimination allegation. Perrin also asserted that because Wilkerson was promoted twice in six years, “was the highest ranking African American at DSS” and she did not adequately show that the work environment was hostile, her accusation that the workplace was so “intolerable” that she quit should be dismissed.
Henderson County Complaint by Mitchell Black on Scribd
Perrin ultimately concluded that, “At best, Plaintiff’s allegations point to complaints based upon rude treatment by coworkers, and superiors, and not the severe and pervasive conduct required for a hostile work environment claim.”
According to Wilkerson’s amended complaint, she first encountered racially charged comments after she was promoted to a supervisor position February 2015. Wilkerson heard a rumor that there was a conversation in the agency referred to as a “town hall meeting” that she was not qualified for her promotion and that she “played the race card to get the position.”
Wilkerson complained about this conversation to her supervisor, Sandy Morgan, who according to the complaint, told Wilkerson that the county completed the investigation, saying “I know what I am about to say will be upsetting to you, but everyone remembers that something was said, but no one can remember exactly what was said or who said it.” Morgan retired from Henderson County. The Citizen Times could not reach her for comment.
Based on Wilkerson’s legal filing, Morgan asked her repeatedly who informed Wilkerson about the conversation. Wilkerson felt this information would have surfaced during a robust investigation, causing her to question its thoroughness.
A year later, in March 2016, Wilkerson was called into a room with Morgan and then Henderson County Human Resources Director Jan Pritchard, according to the lawsuit. Morgan allegedly told Wilkerson that she was under investigation. They informed Wilkerson that DSS director Jerrie McFalls approved the investigation. Pritchard has retired from the county; she declined to comment on the story. McFalls is still the director of the agency; the Citizen Times reached out to her office for comment.
Pritchard allegedly informed Wilkerson that she was being put on leave with pay, that she was not to step on any Henderson County property or have contact with any Henderson County employees. According to the amended complaint, Morgan escorted Wilkerson out of the building, past her co-workers, and secured the door behind her. Then Pritchard and Morgan stared at Wilkerson while she drove off.
The next day, Morgan asked Wilkerson to return for a meeting with Pritchard and McFalls. At the meeting, Wilkerson was informed that the investigation was closed and the accusations made against her were false. They allegedly did not apologize. According to the legal filing, Wilkerson did not return to work the next day because of anxiety. Once she returned, Morgan allegedly told her, “We were trying to get you for reverse racism.”
In 2018, the lawsuit said, Williams Purcell, then a supervisor with Henderson County DSS, was investigated for using “derogatory racial terms, speaking to female employees about their physical appearance, and talking about wearing a KKK costume on campus while he was in college.” He also allegedly “asked a Black female if her baby had learned the N-word yet.” According to the amended complaint, this information was reported to HR and McFalls twice before an investigation commenced. During the investigation, he was allegedly allowed to stay on the job. Purcell still works at Henderson County. He declined to comment.
Henderson County Motion by Mitchell Black on Scribd
According to the amended complaint, Morgan made “frequent comments about Plaintiff’s hair and skin in the presence of Plaintiff’s co-workers.”
In March 2018, Wilkerson was promoted again, this time to program manager. According to the legal filing, many of the people she oversaw were insubordinate. She was the only Black employee in DSS in a leadership position. All the white employees in leadership positions at DSS were given offices with windows. Wilkerson was not.
In May 2021, a co-worker showed Wilkerson a website showing salaries for Henderson County employees. The website allegedly showed that she had a lower salary than many of her white counterparts who had fewer responsibilities.
Wilkerson’s attorney, George Moore, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Henderson County sued for racial discrimination and 'intolerable' workplace
