The Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice is being sued by a former youth camp worker who claims she was discriminated against and ultimately fired for reporting alleged homophobic comments by her supervisor and other colleagues.
Chandia Harris filed a lawsuit in a Georgia federal court Thursday against the department, alleging she was fired in September 2022 for insubordination after she complained about a hostile working environment.
Harris said she spent seven years employed by the department between 2006 and 2013, then returned in April 2021 as a lieutenant at its youth development camp in Macon. She said that’s when the department became aware that she is homosexual and identifies as a lesbian woman.
Harris claims that shortly after her return, she overheard a conversation between her supervisor, the department’s facility director, Cynthia Dupree, and two other women, “insinuating that gay people were going to hell, that gay people were an abomination, and that people are not born gay.”
A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Friday that it had yet to be served with Harris’s complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that Dupree fired Harris for refusing to work a scheduled shift and becoming insubordinate. Harris claims her requested leave had been approved, and that Dupree’s reasoning was a cover for wanting Harris gone due to her sexual orientation.
Harris wants her job at the department back, in addition to unspecified damages, including back pay. She said she took her discrimination concerns to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in October 2022 and was granted the right to sue the department in August.
Harris, who lives in Macon-Bibb County, alleged she reported several instances of homophobia by department staff to its human resources division. She claimed her superiors and other colleagues retaliated against her for complaining and continued to discriminate against her for being gay.
In July 2021, Harris was reprimanded for allegedly refusing to assume a post at work, according to the lawsuit. Harris claims she received a second reprimand for purported attendance issues in September 2021.
She alleged that she was threatened with termination and reprimanded in March 2022 after explaining to a superior that a colleague’s tardiness meant she was unable to pick up her children from daycare. Harris said several other department staff members could have relieved her but failed to do so.
“Dupree was aware of the situation with [Harris] picking up her children, but no action was taken by GDJJ to assist Ms. Harris,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Harris avers that this reprimand was issued in retaliation for her complaining about ongoing discrimination and harassment based on her sexual orientation.”
Harris alleged that she requested and was granted leave in July 2022 for a three-day trip the following month to celebrate her marriage. She said she was made aware of a conversation between two colleagues about her leave, in which one of them used an offensive slur to refer to her.
After complaining to human resources staff about the conversation, Harris was allegedly denied the approved time off by Dupree, who overrode the prior approval. Though Dupree claimed Harris couldn’t take leave due to a staff shortage, two heterosexual employees were allowed time off during that period, Harris alleged.
Dupree allegedly sent Harris a termination letter in September 2022, stating that she was being fired for refusing to work a scheduled shift and becoming insubordinate. Dupree did not specify which shift Harris had failed to work or when the insubordination took place, Harris claimed.
She alleged that other department staff were allowed to keep their jobs after failing to work scheduled shifts.
“A convincing mosaic of evidence exists to demonstrate that Ms. Harris was subjected to intentional discrimination and retaliation by GDJJ when it terminated her from her position of employment,” the lawsuit states.
Harris claims the department’s actions violated the Civil Rights Act. She said she has suffered severe distress and damage to her professional reputation as a result, in addition to lost income and work benefits.
Harris’s attorney did not immediately respond Friday to questions about the case.
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