NEW ORLEANS – A former employee has filed a lawsuit against Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana claiming she was mistreated by a supervisor and received differential treatment compared to co-workers because she is Black.
Tanyake Cline filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Volunteers of America Southeast Louisiana citing allegations of race discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) and Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1981.
According to court documents, Cline, has worked for the defendant for nine years and has advanced to the position of Assistant Program Director. Cline claims she received disparate treatment compared to white colleague Jeanne Leverne, who also held the title of Assistant Program Director.
Cline claims she was the subject of mistreatment by supervisor Melissa Haley involving yelling and differential treatment compared to Leverne and that she had changes in her job duties, including demotions and additional responsibilities, without official documentation from Human Resources. Cline claims she also had to report to Leverne on several of her job duties at least once a week, even though they both held the same title. Cline asserts that there were no issues with her performance nor did she have any disciplinary actions, and she believes the differential treatment from her supervisor was based on her race.
The lawsuit says Cline made complaints about the alleged racial discrimination and retaliation to senior executives, but it says her concerns went unanswered, leading to ongoing mistreatment and unwarranted investigations. Cline was eventually forced to resign due to the mistreatment.
Cline is seeking a judgment for damages for emotional distress, loss of earnings, compensatory and punitive damages, interest, attorney fees, court costs and other relief.
She is being represented by attorney Natalie Blackman in Baton Rouge.
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana case number 2:23-cv-06970