HOUSTON – A Dallas woman claims she was discriminated against because of her race when she worked for a suburban Houston police department.
Lakesha Kelly’s lawsuit against the Memorial Villages Police Department, which was filed on Mar. 19 in the Harris County 127th District Court, states the plaintiff was hired to “diversify” the force but was subjected to a hostile work environment because she is black.
MVPD employed Kelly as a dispatcher from 2010 to 2016.
According to the suit, two Memorial Villages officers made the plaintiff watch a racist video about then-President Barack Obama shortly after the 2012 presidential election.
She adds a lieutenant remarked to her that four black males arrested for a rash of burglaries by the defendant were “probably (her) cousins.”
A white female was reportedly promoted over Kelly “without having an opportunity to apply.”
Court papers further allege that the complainant experienced a few instances of sexual harassment, including but not limited to a colleague watching the 2015 film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey in the dispatch room.
Kelly says the mistreatment negatively affected her health and continued until she was constructively discharged from MVPD on Feb. 29, 2016.
Consequently, she seeks unspecified monetary damages and a jury trial.
R. Scott Poerschke, Jr. of The Poerschke Law Firm, PC in Houston is representing the plaintiff.
Harris County 127th District Court Case No. 2018-18387