Al Heggins alleges that she was called into a meeting with the city of High Point’s deputy city manager and human resources director and told she would receive a verbal and written warning for “inefficiency in the discharge of my duties.”
Heggins had been in charge of a March 2015 community forum hosted by her department about the African-American community and High Point Police Department that featured a presentation titled: “Police Accountability & Citizen Oversight: A Framework for Dismantling White Supremacy and Establishing Real Justice in the 21st Century.” Heggins alleges in the suit that in the meeting the HR director told her that the phrase “dismantling white supremacy” was as equally offensive as the word “nigger.”
When Heggins filed a complaint with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), she said that the “defendants wasted no time initiating a full-scale retaliation campaign that included, but has not been limited to, increased hostility, unjustified negative references, increased and unnecessary surveillance, demotion, unjustified suspensions, constructive discharge and finally wrongful termination.”
The city attorney, Joanne Carlyle, defended the city and said it would prevail. “The city hasn’t subjected Ms. Heggins to discriminatory treatment,” she said. “There was no wrongful termination.”