Three former workers and one current employee of the Antelope Valley Medical Center are suing the Lancaster facility, alleging they were subjected to harassing, retaliatory and discriminatory conduct, including being denied promotions and asked insensitive questions because they are Black.
In the Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed Wednesday, the plaintiffs are David Angoma, Jeanne Muhirwa, Charlene Lepe and Zipporah Wilson. All were employed in the behavioral health unit and all are nurses except for Lepe, who worked at AVMC as a secretary for 24 years.
Only Muhirwa continues working at AVMC. Angoma and Wilson contend they were forced to resign because of the work conditions, while Lepe maintains she was terminated.
An AVMC representative said Monday that there would be no comment on the suit because it is active litigation.
According to the suit, in late 2022, AVMC hired a new management team through a medical staffing agency, ostensibly to improve the behavioral health unit. Almost immediately, the white new nursing director made “blatant, offensive, harassing and discriminatory” remarks against Black employees, including telling one that her hair “took a lot of grease” to style, the suit alleges.
The director also told Wilson that her accent was hard to understand and asked her if she liked Black music, the suit states.
The director asked Angoma, “How long have you been in this country?” and spoke to him in a hostile and demeaning way, according to the suit, which also alleges that she told Black employees, “I don’t care what you think, just do what I say.”
In July 2024, Wilson was denied a charge nurse position that was given to a less qualified white candidate, the suit alleges.
After Muhirwa complained about the alleged disparate treatment to human resources in March 2023, no corrective steps were taken and she was instead placed on unpaid leave later that month for alleged insubordination, the suit states.
In February 2023, Lepe provided a statement to management about the alleged harassment she and other Black workers were experiencing,and she was terminated 10 months later, according to the suit.
Prior to her termination, Lepe took three medical leaves, two of which for surgeries, according to the suit, which further states that she took a separate leave to deal with the emotional distress she contends she suffered from her work environment.
Angoma also protested the alleged disparate treatment of Black employees, but the lawsuit does not indicate any backlash he suffered. He and the other plaintiffs seek unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.