Planned Parenthood is caught up in a serious lawsuit filed by one of its black executives, who claims to have been subjected to regular background checks during his time working for the company. Samuel Mitchell Jr., whose position was chief operating officer at the New York branch, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday, where he goes on to allege how staffers would use stereotypical terms against him such as being “out of control” and appearing “angry,” while allegedly making sarcastic remarks about his disability.
Per the New York Daily News, Mitchell notes in the suit that he has a disabling neurological condition that causes him to stutter in stressful situations, and while his team was aware of this, they’re alleged to have made a mockery out of his disorder and are further accused of insulting his distinct Southern accent. In addition to suing Planned Parenthood (PPGNY), he also names four white women as defendants in the legal case: Anne Davis, Gillian Dean, Wendy Stark, and Andrea Hagan.
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Mitchell began working at the firm back in September 2021 when he was brought on board as interim COO. And while his time at Planned Parenthood had already started out with colleagues allegedly making discriminatory comments in a seeming attempt to undermine his ability in executing his assignments, it wasn’t until Stark became president and CEO in August 2022 that things were said to have “intensified.” The lawsuit continues to mention that Mitchell had made multiple complaints about the behavior of some of his co-workers, yet the company failed to take action by speaking to those he’d accused of making his time at Planned Parenthood exceedingly challenging.
But Mitchell’s lawsuit goes on to detail much more problematic instances where he himself had to question his future at the company after a handful of board members allegedly made a mockery of his religion after staffers found out Mitchell was an ordained pastor. On one particular occasion, he asserted that it was insinuated Christians and pastors “were not welcome to work for PPGNY” and that there were attempts made to terminate the plaintiff’s employment after his church was arbitrarily accused of supporting anti-abortion.
Mitchell’s lawsuit comes just months after another Black executive sued the non-profit organization which provides sexual health care across the U.S. Back in September, a woman named Nicole Moore complained about the unfair treatment Black women received at the company during the time she was working as director of multicultural brands engagement at the Manhattan office between January 2020 and November 2021.
Outside of accusing PP of creating a toxic workplace, Moore alleged that she was placed on a “performance improvement plan” when she complained about the racism she had experienced, on top of finding out her department’s budget was abruptly cut even though it had already been approved. When she decided to speak out about the issues she was having at PP, Moore said she was told the company was suddenly placed on a performance improvement plan. The alleged unfair treatment by her colleagues became so bad that it eventually caused Moore to land in an emergency room after suffering a severe anxiety attack.
In a statement to CNN, she expressed, “I hope that my story inspires real change at Planned Parenthood so that the organization can fully live up to its promise to ‘Stand With Black Women’ – starting with those who work there.”