A former employee has filed a lawsuit against a dental management company, alleging racial discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. Melissa Blackwell lodged the complaint on August 16, 2024, in the Superior Court of California for Sacramento County against Straine Dental Management LLC and Sid Ahtye.
According to the complaint, Blackwell began working as a Human Resources Generalist at Straine's Sacramento office on May 6, 2024. She alleges that she faced immediate hostility from her colleagues and supervisors due to her race. On June 19, 2024, Ahtye allegedly denigrated Juneteenth in front of Blackwell and other employees, calling it a "stupid holiday" and expressing disdain for its mid-week occurrence. This incident led Blackwell to confront Ahtye about his remarks before leaving the office in distress.
Blackwell claims that following this confrontation, her work environment became increasingly hostile. Her colleagues Lori Kemply and Jennifer Langley allegedly shunned her and refused to assist with work-related tasks. Ahtye is accused of becoming overly critical and condescending towards Blackwell. The situation escalated when Blackwell reported the mistreatment to Vera Powell, Straine’s Director of Human Resources. Following this report, Kemply's behavior allegedly worsened, and Ahtye became more aggressive in dismissing Blackwell's presence.
On August 5, 2024, Blackwell was informed by Powell that she was being terminated despite having received a raise just two months prior. The complaint states that Blackwell had filed a grievance with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and obtained a "right-to-sue" letter before proceeding with the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses Straine Dental Management LLC and Sid Ahtye of violating multiple sections of the California Government Code §12900 et seq., including race discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and failure to prevent such conduct. Specifically, it alleges that Straine failed to take reasonable steps to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace despite having actual knowledge of such behavior from its employees.
Blackwell seeks general, special, consequential damages exceeding jurisdictional limits along with exemplary damages aimed at punishing the defendants for their alleged misconduct. She also requests reasonable attorney’s fees under FEHA statutes along with pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
The case is being handled by attorneys Mark P. Velez and Natalya Grunwald-Velez from The Velez Law Firm. The case ID is not provided in the document.