A Black deputy city clerk in Allentown, Penn. is speaking up about the hostile workplace environment that she’s been dealing with for the last 15 years — primarily at the hands of one woman
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In a lawsuit filed by Tawanna Whitehead, she claims that she has faced several racist incidents that break state and federal laws, specifically alleging that City Councilwoman Candida Affa is responsible for most of them.
During an interview with WFMZ-TV, Whitehead’s attorney, Marc Weinstein, shared, “I’m not talking about just little slights, I’m talking about explicit racial epithets.”
He later added, “They know she’s not making this stuff up. They know that she’s not quote ‘playing the race card’ here, because they have witnesses to it.”
The suit describes one particular incident in 2015 where Whitehead claims an unnamed “high-ranking City official” used the phrase “sand n****r” multiple times and later did it again in the presence of her supervisor.
Despite her supervisor reporting the incident to human resources, Whitehead claims there were no actions taken by the department.
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In the lawsuit, only the City of Allentown is named as a defendant. Weinstein told us they didn’t choose to name Affa as a defendant because Federal and State law make it difficult to sue individuals on claims like these.
Whitehead describes Affa as an “unashamed bigot” and details an incident in 2019 where she allegedly heard Affa say that Black people “are always ‘begging for something’ when they come to council meetings during budget discussions,” according to the lawsuit.
Weinstein later asked WFMZ-TV, “Why has City Council not publicly censured her? Why has the City Council not taken her off committees? Why has the Mayor’s office not decided they’re not going to allow her in any place in City Hall other than where she votes?”
Whitehead is seeking legal fees and monetary damages from the City of Allentown.
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