A Leon County jury awarded a former Florida Department of Corrections employee nearly $300,000 on Wednesday for being wrongfully terminated in retaliation for reporting the department's "unlawful employment activities."
Stella Harris, a Black woman, worked for the DOC from 2015 until she was fired in 2021, according to her complaint. Over the course of her six-year career at the department, Harris said she endured unfair demotions and discrimination.
A jury concluded that DOC did retaliate against Harris by firing her, which caused her to suffer "lost wages" and "emotional distress," but that they didn't fire her because of her race, according to the verdict sheet. She was awarded $275,000.
"We're thrilled," said Tallahassee attorney Marie Mattox, who represented Harris alongside Katherine Viker, another attorney at her firm. "That was vindication for her."
The department, however, denied both claims that they retaliated and discriminated against Harris, according to court documents. A DOC spokesperson later Thursday told the Tallahassee Democrat that the case is ongoing and it does "not comment on pending litigation."
"The Florida Department of Corrections has zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind," its statement said.
Harris worked as a personnel service specialist before being promoted to senior personnel manager in 2017, a role in which she was in charge of hiring, training and terminating employees, according to the complaint. Two years into the position, an employee who Harris hired filed a complaint after Harris told her she had to relocate to a different office space.
The employee reported that Harris "engaged in favoritism, bullying and had committed battery when (Harris) allegedly snatched an earbud out of her ear," the complaint says. The inspector general's office opened an investigation, and after it was closed, Harris was demoted to a role as a human resource analyst.
Even though she was no longer in a managerial role, she still carried out such duties, and when her former position opened up in 2020, she decided to reapply. A less experienced and qualified person who was friends with the bureau chief was hired over Harris, according to the complaint.
The new HR manager "openly criticized and micromanaged (Harris' and another Black employee's) work while providing preferential treatment to the Caucasian human resource analysts . . . regarding specifically but not limited to how she spoke to them and permitted them to take more time off," the complaint says.
Harris reported the discrimination she faced and then was given the choice to resign or be terminated. When she asked why she was being fired she was told "he did not have a reason," according to the complaint.
Harris filed a "charge of discrimination" with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission several months after leaving the DOC which she believed caused her to struggle finding a new state job.
Harris "was advised by one of her potential employers, the Department of Highway Safety, that a letter was prepared from someone in the inspector general's office with the (DOC), indicating (Harris) was terminated for conduct unbecoming, and that is the reason this potential employer was unable to hire" her, the complaint says.
Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com . Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Jury rules in favor of former Department of Corrections employee in retaliation lawsuit
Local News
