ALEXANDRIA – An employee has filed a racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Louisiana Department of Health.
Renee Hawkins filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Louisiana Department of Health citing allegations of race discrimination and retaliation in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to court documents, Hawkins has been employed by the defendant since May 2009, initially serving as a Residential Services II and later progressing to the role of Social Services Specialist. During her three-year tenure, Hawkins says she had a clean disciplinary record until she received a questionable write-up in May 2022.
Hawkins claims she was the only Black among eight Social Services Specialists since 2021, which led to her receiving differential treatment compared to her white coworkers. She cites instances of being singled out, such as having to request incident reports more frequently than her colleagues, facing unsubstantiated accusations of missing cases and being excluded from various office actions and communications.
Furthermore, Hawkins alleges specific incidents of harassment. She contends supervisor Jennifer James was informed of her perception of racial bias in April 2022. Shortly after her report, Hawkins says she became the subject of an investigation in May 2022 related to a case assigned to her in February 2022, leading to her reprimand for alleged falsification of documents.
Hawkins took FMLA leave in June 2022 because of the emotional distress and anxiety resulting from these events, with plans to return in December 2023.
She is seeking compensatory damages for loss of wages and benefits, emotional distress, humiliation, mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and inconvenience as well as punitive damages, interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
Hawkins is being represented by Natalie Blackman in Baton Rouge.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana case number 1:23-cv-01645