Former Employee Sues Planned Parenthood Over Alleged Racism
A former Planned Parenthood abortion facility staffer has filed a lawsuit alleging he was fired in part because he used his abortion position to work for black civil rights leaders.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., on Monday, names Dr. Deborah Nucatola, chief executive and president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. (The organization, founded in 1973, provides healthcare, public education and community services.)
Nucatola was terminated in December and, according to the lawsuit, was fired after she complained to Planned Parenthood officials about her supervisor.
The lawsuit says that after working at the abortion center for nine months, Nucatola started work in June 2010 with the California Commission on Human Rights, which had received complaints about treatment of female patients.
After the California Commission found Planned Parenthood’s abortion procedures to be “uncompliant with federal policy and applicable law,” according to Planned Parenthood, the abortion business was shut down.
Planned Parenthood fired Nucatola and two others in June.
She appealed, and a Planned Parenthood regional director wrote in a memo sent July 7 that Nucatola “inappropriately shared confidential information” about abortion procedures with the group she worked for. The memo said Nucatola was terminated because of her actions.
“This employee’s actions were not accepted, and Planned Parenthood terminated her due to her poor judgment,” the memo said.
Nucatola claims Planned Parenthood did not follow its internal guidelines and never gave her a reason for her termination.
The Associated Press has not independently verified the contents of the lawsuit.
The woman is the former executive director of the California Commission on Human Rights, which had received complaints about treatment of female patients. The commission found Planned Parenthood’s abortion procedures to be “uncompliant with federal policy and applicable law.”