DEI worker Dr. Chris Pernell has filed a lawsuit against her former employer.
Dr. Pernell previously served as the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officer at University Hospital in Newark. In a lawsuit filed Aug. 13, she claimed she had experienced sexist and racial discrimination and harassment before being asked to resign in 2022, according to NJ.com. She alleges that her issues with her employer resulted when she began to integrate DEI initiatives and push back on the previously mentioned concerns.
“I felt like I had to validate the role I was in,” she told the outlet.
Dr. Pernell lists several other examples of aggression in the hospital. She claims that “WLM” (White Lives Matter) was once plastered in the workspace, and after asking her feedback on the matter, the hospital ultimately reassigned the employee instead of terminating him, despite her suggestion otherwise. Additionally, she said that other Black employees had flagged similar discriminatory and racist activity in the workplace and hiring. She claims she was “specifically asked to quell the concerns of the Black workers.”
Pernell further alleges that her interest in seeking the CEO role once Shereef Elnahal exited prompted retaliation from the hospital and board. She says she was informed she would not have backing, and the governor’s office was “not going to be strong-armed” regarding her securing the post. Pernell was also notified of an investigation of her, which she was advised not to discuss. She allegedly told the outlet that she believes it was intended to harm her reputation.
Shortly after hearing of the investigation, she was supposedly approached to initiate “a graceful exit from the hospital” that would include a severance package.
“I always knew I would need to fight to protect the health and well-being of my community,” she said, according to NJ.com. “I trusted that the leadership and team members would work with me and partner with the community to build a better, safer, higher-quality, and culturally fluent hospital. I didn’t expect to have to fight for my own safety and well-being or for my credentials and expertise to be respected.”
She left her position in 2022 and currently works at the NAACP as its director for the Center for Health Equity. She seeks reinstatement at the University Hospital, as well as back pay and benefits, compensatory damages, and legal fees. She also wants the hospital to “take appropriate corrective action to stop and prevent retaliation at the workplace.”
Pernell’s attorney, Christopher J. Eibeler, shared that Pernell hopes the lawsuit “will shed some much needed light to the unlawful ways the hospital’s uses confidentiality to hide issues of workplace discrimination.”
