A former longtime employee of the Westside Food Bank is suing the nonprofit, alleging she was wrongfully fired in 2024 for complaining about unsafe work conditions, including food contamination, as well as a lack of accommodations for her speech disability.
Allison Griffith’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit allegations include wrongful termination, retaliation, disability discrimination and failure to engage in the interactive process. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
A Westside Food Bank representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the suit brought Aug. 20. The Santa Monica-based organization was founded in 1981 and provides nutritious food for 72,000 households, or about 153,000 needy people, with the help of more than 60 agencies, according to its website.
Griffith was hired in March 1997, and at the time of her termination, her job title was director of mobile pantries and volunteers, according to the suit. She managed mobile food distribution programs, facilitated volunteer operations and ensured that food deliveries and safety protocols were carried out at WSFB warehouses and food banks throughout Los Angeles County, the suit states.
Griffith has dyslexia and dyscalculia, learning and speech disabilities that impair written communication, spelling and some kinds of cognitive processing, according to the suit. The food bank’s former executive director and current CEO helped assist her with her disability at first, the suit states.
Beginning in 2022, Griffith saw and repeatedly reported serious safety and sanitation issues at the workplace, including an ongoing rat infestation at WSFB’s Olympic warehouse, the suit states.
“Despite these clear signs of food contamination and repeated reports from plaintiff and other staff, WSFB failed to implement proper pest control measures or eliminate the infestation,” the suit states.
In addition, food was often stacked in a bodega-style layout directly against the walls, which made it easier for rodents to access the inventory and contaminate food supplies, according to the suit, which also states that she reported her safety concerns about the employment of non-certified forklift operators.
Griffith further objected to the use of ladders and ceiling access procedures that lacked OSHA-compliant equipment, placing employees at significant risk of injury, the suit states. The plaintiff repeatedly reported the safety issues to management, but instead of changes being made, she was retaliated against, including with a disciplinary warning containing minor or made-up allegations, according to the suit.
Griffith also was placed on a plan to improve her job performance that appeared to be unfairly related to her disabilities and changed the way management had previously accommodated her, the suit states. The plaintiff continued to report her safety concerns, and when she was fired in August 2024, she was told it was for cause, the suit states.
WSFB never conducted an adequate investigation into Griffith’s workplace safety complaints, nor did the agency ultimately offer her meaningful disability accommodations, according to the suit, which further states that Griffith has suffered substantial economic damages and is enduring emotional distress due to the WSFB’s alleged retaliation.