A Florida county will pay a Black woman after she was fired without reason from her job at the county tourism office in 2015. The agreement was for $150,000. Deidre Jackson was fired by her manager Eric Garvey in 2015. Prior to the termination of her employment at the tourism office, Garvey hadn’t had any issues with Jackson’s work.
Court filings indicate that Garvey “noticeably avoided interacting with [Jackson] during the work day.” He allegedly fired Jackson in 2015 with no advance notice six months after he started working at the office. Jackson worked at the Florida Space Coast Office of Tourism for eight years, since 2007. According to the complaint, Jackson had a “exemplary work record.”
Garvey told Jackson that she didn’t fit his “vision” for what the office should look like, and asked that she leave the position in 14 days. Garvey also admitted there was nothing wrong with Jackson’s job performance. The complaint also showed Jackson had never been disciplined. A white person ended up taken Jackson’s place after she left. Once Jackson filed a discrimination claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The county hasn’t admitted fault or acknowledged it violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but has agreed to pay Jackson $100,000 in back pay along with $50,000 in damages.
“No one should suffer the indignity of losing her job because of the color of her skin,” Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Eric S. Dreiband told the Miami Herald.
Jackson was later fired right before an Asian American employee Kalina Subido-Person was asked to resign after 25 years with the agency. Once Jackson and Subido-person lost their jobs, the tourism office was staffed only by white people. Garvey would leave the office in 2018 and moved to a job in the private sector.
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