A former director of a racial justice initiative has filed a lawsuit against her previous employer, alleging a pattern of racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. On June 17, 2024, Kumari Ghafoor-Davis filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Community Action Lehigh Valley (CALV).
Kumari Ghafoor-Davis, who served as the Director for Racial Ethnic Justice at CALV from July 30, 2018, until her termination on May 12, 2023, claims she was subjected to continuous racist and discriminatory conduct by CALV's leadership. The complaint outlines numerous instances where Ms. Ghafoor-Davis faced verbal abuse and undermining behavior from CALV’s former Executive Director and his successor, Dawn Godshall. According to the filing, the former Executive Director ridiculed Ms. Ghafoor-Davis publicly and described her as an "unorganized radical." This behavior allegedly continued under Ms. Godshall’s leadership with comments that Ms. Ghafoor-Davis’ team was a “cult” and accusations that they were “indoctrinating” others.
The lawsuit details how these actions led to significant stress for Ms. Ghafoor-Davis, culminating in a stroke during a work meeting in December 2020. Despite her complaints to Human Resources about this treatment, no effective action was taken to address her concerns. Instead, she was met with further hostility and sabotage efforts aimed at undermining her initiatives.
Ms. Ghafoor-Davis also accuses CALV of retaliatory practices following her complaints about racial discrimination. She describes being placed on unjustified performance improvement plans and receiving write-ups for minor infractions not applied equally to Caucasian colleagues. Her efforts to secure funding for her programs were thwarted by negative comments made by Ms. Godshall within the community, affecting potential donations crucial for sustaining those initiatives.
In seeking relief from the court, Ms. Ghafoor-Davis requests back pay, front pay, punitive damages, compensatory damages, attorney fees, and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
The case is being handled by attorneys John S. Harrison and Erika A. Farkas from Broughal & DeVito L.L.P., while it will be presided over by Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr., under Case ID: 5:24-cv-02640-JFL.