KANSAS CITY - An employee claims a subordinate at Truman Medical Center sexually harassed her while management failed to act because she is Black.
Also, Angela Brown-Kendall claims the company has retaliated against her for making reports to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Brown-Kendall filed the federal lawsuit November 6 against the Truman Medical Center doing business as University Health, citing allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation.
According to the complaint, Brown-Kendall works as the guest services manager at TMC's Lakewood Campus. During the course of her employment, she says she has endured numerous incidents of racial discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation.
Brown-Kendall's complaint details instances of sexual harassment involving subordinate Virginia Washington, whom the plaintiff had written up several times for mistreating and making false accusations against co-workers. Brown-Kendall claims Washington retaliated against her for these write-ups by falsely reporting her to human resources in the summer of 2021 that Brown-Kendall sent her nude photographs. An investigation determined that Washington's allegations were false, but Brown-Kendall was informed she was being pulled back from managing Washington.
Following the investigation, Washington allegedly continued to spread false rumors of a sexual nature about Brown-Kendall, but TMC did not take any meaningful action against her until another employee, a white woman, made similar complaints. Brown-Kendall alleges TMC's failure to act on her behalf and not her white co-worker is an indication of racial discrimination.
Because of the incidents, Brown-Kendall filed several charges of sexual harassment and racial discrimination with the EEOC between March 2022 and August 2023. Since filing the complaints, she says she has faced negative feedback in performance reviews, been excluded from meetings and received unjustified suspensions. Her allegations detail incidents of favoritism in attendance accusations, a 30-day suspension without a proper investigation, and being over budget without evidence provided. The plaintiff also says her complaints to higher-ups have been blocked, and she has faced harassment and intimidation.
Brown-Kendall is seeking actual and punitive damages for emotional pain and suffering, insult, mental distress, embarrassment, humiliation, anxiety and inconvenience, plus attorney fees, court costs and other relief. She is being represented by Cecilia J. Borwn of Cecilia Nuby & Associates in Kansas City.
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri Kansas City Division case number 4:23-cv-00813