9-1-1 Operators File Discrimination Lawsuit After Being Asked If They Liked To “F**k N****rs

Three 9-1-1 emergency dispatchers for the AlleghenyCounty 9-1-1 Call Center (“Call Center”) filed separate suits on November 19, 2014 against theCall Center, located in Downtown Pittsburgh, alleging egregious sexual harassment and blatant discrimination based on gender and race.

All three of the plaintiffs are female and minorities. The three plaintiffs are Kelli Rodriguez(Hispanic), Ruby Helvy (African-American), and Dapree Thompson (African-American). Although these women are filing separate complaints, the complaints all describe a hostile environment of harassment and discrimination coming from the same management and supervisory team. This harassment and lack of support from management severely impacted the ability of the dispatchers to assist emergency callers and emergency services personnel throughout Allegheny County.

Dapree Thompson, a ten-year veteran dispatcher for the Call Center, explains in her complaint how she was targeted and treated differently because she is African-American. In one incident Ms. Thompson was called a “n****r” the phone by emergency services in the field. Management made Ms. Thompson and other African-American co-workers take calls from the inner city of Pittsburgh because they could “speak ghetto.”

During Ms. Rodriguez’s time at the Call Center, supervisors repeatedly humiliated her while management refused to take any steps to assist her. Her primary training supervisor, a white male, called her racial slurs, threatened her with physical violence and insulted her in front of her fellow dispatchers. The training supervisor sexually harassed Ms. Rodriguez commenting on how her long hair was “hot as f**k” and inquiring into whether she “liked to f**k n*****s.”

- See more at: http://bossip.com/1067598/race-matters-black-asian-9-1-1-operators-file-discrimination-lawsuit-after-being-told-to-talk-ghetto-asked-if-they-liked-sex-with-black-men-by-white-managers/#sthash.RFEBblmL.dpuf