Racism and Planned Parenthood: Stories from Employee Lawsuits

Posted on May 12, 2026 By Rachel MacNair

by Rachel MacNair

I’ve been spending a lot of time going through and compiling lawsuits against Planned Parenthood, including a lot of employee grievances. In my previous post, Racism and Planned Parenthood: Documentation, I covered employees organizing together to oppose the racism they encountered. But to get more of a sense of the experience of what individuals working there have to face, the Complaints in lawsuits have many lengthy stories.

Below I offer excerpts of a geographically diverse sample of such complaints. I link to the page at the Problems at Planned Parenthood website where a longer excerpt can be found, and the full documents are linked to for those who want their full story. To find it, scroll down to the city’s name (they’re in alphabetical order), or do a search for the last name.

Los Angeles, CA – Bryant, filed 11.02.2017

3. This harassment and discrimination occurred on a daily basis and included, but was not limited to, the following:

a) Calling African-Americans “homies;”

b) Criticizing the performance of African-American employees;

c) Making comments about the hair and braids of African-American employees; and

d) Making derogatory racial slurs about African-Americans . . .

9. On or about August 2, 2017, plaintiff was terminated. Plaintiff was terminated because she was a witness in support of another employee’s complaints of discrimination and harassment and because she complained of harassment and discrimination.

Merrillville, IN – Barnes, filed 06.14.2020, from paragraph 9:

The Merrillville clinic manager confronted the Plaintiff with the false allegation that the Plaintiff and two other African American nurse practitioners were “promoting a negative environment” by talking to each other about job-related nurse practitioner issues. During the conversation, this manager also told the Plaintiff “there’s just too many of y’all here,” meaning too many black / African American employees.

New York, NY – Cruz, filed 12.18.23, Preliminary Statement

In August 2020, Planned Parenthood hired . . . Cruz, an Afro-Latina woman as a Senior Video Producer. Cruz was renowned for her joyous and uplifting portrayals of communities of color, and she was excited to lend her talents to the reproductive justice movement. Unfortunately, Cruz immediately learned that Planned Parenthood expected her to perform menial work well below her pedigree and complete excruciating hours for days on end with no break and no overtime pay. Even worse, Planned Parenthood openly tokenized Cruz by forcing her to . . . attend meetings about Latino Heritage Month projects in which she had no involvement. In addition, Planned Parenthood required Cruz attend regular performative “retreats” about race, wherein it expected she educate her white colleagues about life as a brown person . . .

Cruz also advocated for diversity in hiring, criticizing Planned Parenthood’s tendency to hire its executives’ white friends over deserving contractors and staff of color. Cruz felt more and more desperate as she came to realize that not a single person at the organization cared about these issues of equity. Eventually, her doctor insisted that she go on medical leave for the sake of her mental health, during which she realized that she could not conceivably return.

Nashville, TN – Flores, filed 02.23.23

9. During a company retreat, several employees including Flores renewed their protected complaints of racism. In response, Planned Parenthood leadership scolded Flores; they explicitly cited her race complaints as “mean” and “hostile,” and scolded her for what they called a “snarky” look on her face. Flores was reduced to tears during this exchange and weeks later Flores was retaliatorily terminated. Planned Parenthood’s racist treatment and unlawful termination resulted in substantial psychological and financial distress to Flores . . .

10. Early in her employment, Flores realized that while her team and other teams at a similar level were comprised mostly of individuals of color, most managers, supervisors, officers, and directors at PPTNM were white. Flores discussed this racial discrepancy with colleagues on her teams, who confirmed this was a usual practice for PPTNM and shared their observation that white PPTNM employees received praise and responsibilities not provided to staff members of color. Flores soon learned that this disparity of opportunity for employees of color at PPTNM was part of a systemic issue present in most Planned Parenthood affiliates nationwide.

Houston, TX – Huffmeyer, filed 09.23.2019

18. At the end of August 2017, PPGC assigned a new supervisor to oversee Ms. Huffmeyer’s performance . . . Following that appointment, Ms. Huffmeyer’s workplace quickly turned into a living nightmare. Not only did [the new supervisor] persistently belittle Ms. Huffmeyer; she also resorted to treating her so badly that her work environment quickly became sufficiently hostile to start causing her health to deteriorate, all because of Ms. Huffmeyer’s race and national origin. Among other health issues, Ms. Huffmeyer developed daily headaches and fever blisters . . .

19. Instead of seeing her working conditions improve, Ms. Huffmeyer was unceremoniously terminated, just over three months after the complaint was filed, without any respect for the ten years of impeccable service she delivered to the Company.

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