ORLANDO - An Orlando woman accused the Orange County Supervisor of Elections (SOE) of disparate treatment through race discrimination in a federal court lawsuit.
According to documents filed on March 4, plaintiff Cathy McGill-Johnson, an African American, was employed by the SOE as a records clerk from 2014 to 2020.
McGill-Johnson says she was terminated on Aug. 12 and replaced by a white Hispanic female. According to the suit, the plaintiff was a model employee, with no history of discipline or misconduct.
McGill was allegedly terminated for taking a bottle of hand sanitizer from the SOE purchasing agent's supply closet for use during COVID-19; McGill informed the purchasing agent that she took the bottle once they were both in the office at the same time a little over a week later. McGill's superior listed the event as a "severe offense," the suit says.
The plaintiff says the termination was pretext for racially motivated discrimination, given that the event was objectively an honest mistake and other clerks were not fired for honest mistakes after a spotless employment record.
McGill seeks compensatory damages and lost wages. She is represented by Thomas J. Pilacek and Associates of Winter Springs.