ALLENTOWN, Pa. \u2014 An Allentown employee whose firing two years ago sparked a no-confidence vote against Mayor Matt Tuerk is suing the city.<\/p>\n
Former human resources worker Karen Ocasio in a federal lawsuit filed Monday alleges Tuerk forced her out of his administration in November 2023 for reporting discrimination.<\/p>\n
Ocasio repeatedly spoke out at Allentown City Council meetings in the wake of a July 2023 open letter<\/a> that included numerous claims of racism and discrimination within municipal government.<\/p>\n She urged members to authorize an investigation into those claims, which they did in October 2023.<\/p>\n Ocasio was fired the next month; she said she was terminated without reason or prior notice.<\/p>\n Council voted 4-3 in December 2023 to pass a no-confidence measure<\/a> that criticized \u201cTuerk\u2019s ineffective leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n The next day, Tuerk spokeswoman Genesis Ortega said Ocasio was one of three HR employees who were fired<\/a> after independent counsel investigated multiple complaints within the city\u2019s human resources department.<\/p>\n ‘Illegal retaliation’<\/p>\n Ocasio told council members two years ago that some of her co-workers said lower-level HR employees sit in \u201cMexico,\u201d while managers work in the U.S.<\/p>\n That claim is among several she makes against the city in her federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n She alleges she was denied training and assistance when taking new roles and faced hostility due to her race. The suit states Ocasio, who identifies as Black and Hispanic, was at times the only non-white employee in the HR department.<\/p>\n Ocasio\u2019s suit says she took six months of medical leave during the first half of 2023 due to stress from an \u201cincreasingly hostile work environment; when she returned, she was demoted and lost her office, it alleges.<\/p>\n Ocasio was hired in November 2018 as a clerk for the Allentown Police Department; she was promoted twice before being demoted to HR generalist, the title she held when she was fired in November 2023, according to her suit.<\/p>\n Ocasio\u2019s attorney, Marc Weinstein, argues her firing was \u201cillegal retaliation\u201d for filing complaints in fall 2023 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.<\/p>\n City employees seeking to sue for employment-based claims must first file a formal charge with the EEOC and await the results of an investigation.<\/p>\n Plaintiffs who receive a \u201cright to sue\u201d letter from the EEOC have 90 days to file a lawsuit. Ocasio\u2019s window to sue was due to expire Dec. 22.<\/p>\n Ocasio is seeking an unspecified amount of lost wages, benefits and bonuses she said she would have otherwise earned.<\/p>\n Ortega, Allentown\u2019s communications director, was not immediately available Monday night. The city typically does not comment on pending litigation or personnel issues.<\/p>\n Lawsuits piling up<\/p>\n Weinstein also is representing Deputy City Clerk Tawanna Whitehead and former Human Resources Director Nadeem Shahzad in their lawsuits against the city.<\/p>\n