‘Target on my back’: Ex-employee sues KCATA, alleges race, gender, religious discrimination

A former employee is suing the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority, alleging her bosses there discriminated against her because of her race, religion and gender.

Tiffini Davis, a Black woman, worked for KCATA for seven years starting in 2013, moving around the company in various roles. But in 2016, Davis said she began to feel like her employer was discriminating against her, according to documents filed in federal court in late October.

In her lengthy complaint, Davis listed multiple incidents throughout her time with KCATA when she felt supervisors and employees were prejudicial. Reporting such incidents often ended in retaliation, the lawsuit claims.

“I have been discriminated against every day since September 2016 because of my religion, my race and my gender,” Davis wrote in a statement to the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. “I have reported complaints of discrimination to my management chain and these complaints, for the most part have been ignored and I have been retaliated against for making complaints.”

Favoritism for white employees, Jehovah’s Witnesses

Court documents allege then-Chief Operating Officer Jameson Auten favored Jehovah’s Witnesses over the rest of his employees, going so far as to give his Jehovah’s Witness employees promotions over others. Two such employees are mentioned as having received a promotion instead of Davis.

When Davis’ role was eliminated in 2020, jobs were created for two similarly situated employees, the documents claim.

Davis said she also felt her workplace was racially hostile after employees made fun of a Black employee who called multiple times for benefits help, despite her allegedly not being paid for two months while she was on disability leave. In an HR meeting, Davis said the employee was accused of not being able to manage her money.

“There was a heated discussion during this meeting and I said I thought it was a race thing,” Davis wrote in her statement.

Following the disagreement, Davis said she was moved out of HR. A fellow employee, Sherri Shinkle, then allegedly sent an email to other employees, saying she was afraid of Davis because she had a “background” and had “goons.” Shinkle was promoted to HR Manager, according to court documents.

“I felt like I constantly had a target on my back from the white HR dept because of my race and my complaints of race discrimination,” Davis wrote.

Frivolous write-ups, nitpicking

In September 2016, Davis said she was given permission by Chief Financial Officer Mike Graham to retrieve the belongings of a Black employee who had been fired. While gathering her co-worker’s things, Davis was told by Susan White, her manager at the time, that she needed to leave until she notified a manager.

According to Davis’ statement, she told White, “Here I am. I’m notifying you.”

The terminated employee, whom Davis was on the phone with, heard the entire exchange and allegedly began swearing at White, though Davis said White blamed Davis for what was said. As a result, Davis said she was written up for insubordination, even though white employees had returned other terminated co-workers’ belongings without issue.

In October 2016, Davis said she was fired but later saved by the union.

After receiving a promotion and moving to a non-union position, Davis was accused of disclosing her co-worker’s salary in 2018.

According to court documents, after bringing in an investigator, the company determined that Davis did not disclose her co-worker’s salary. The investigation found a white employee culpable. However, the white employee was not reprimanded to Davis’ knowledge.

Later that year, Davis’ role with the company changed, and handling benefits was no longer part of her responsibilities. However, Davis said, employees continued to call her for help, even after she told them she didn’t handle benefits anymore.

“I got reprimanded for talking to them and telling them how to ask for things in a specific way,” Davis’ statement read. “Yes, I got into trouble for helping employees by the HR dept.”

Davis said she went on to be investigated twice for accusations made by Shinkle before she was cleared by an outside investigator. Afterward, the investigator allegedly told Davis she’d better “watch out because they have it out for you.”

She sent emails to upper management detailing the issue, which she said went ignored.

“In my emails, I told them I was being discriminated because of my race,” Davis wrote.

Just one day after a warning from the investigator, Davis was put under another investigation for incorrectly filling out a W4, even though Davis said she had been doing it that way “for years.”

Shinkle was later promoted to Chief of HR.

At one point, Davis said someone posted hundreds of copies of her W2, with her name and social security number on them, throughout the building. Upon seeing the sheets of paper, Davis said she went around, trying to take them down, before being written up by HR.

“I got in trouble by HR because I should have waited on HR to take it down,” Davis wrote.

After being given a new role in 2020, Davis said she asked HR for training, who allegedly told her to “figure it out.”

Davis also said that, while working under then-manager Bobby Edwards, she was sexually harassed and experienced unwanted touching on more than a dozen occasions. Edwards allegedly attempted to touch her back and shoulders, as well as rub her shoulders, and she alleged he did so to multiple women.

After she complained numerous times, Davis said the company finally launched an investigation in March 2019. She and several other women told their stories to an investigator.

Edwards was subsequently terminated from KCATA, according to court documents.

Davis is suing her former employer on four counts: discrimination based on race, illegal retaliation in violation, discrimination based on religion, and hostile work environment in violation. She’s requested a trial by jury, and is represented by attorney David Lunceford.

KCATA responded to The Star’s request for an interview by saying the company could not comment on ongoing litigation.