In a gripping legal battle, a former employee has taken a bold step to challenge her ex-employer in court over allegations of racial discrimination and harassment. Angelica Reams filed a verified complaint against Ripple Labs Inc., Joseph Gillick, and unnamed defendants on February 28, 2025, in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco. The case accuses Ripple Labs and its senior manager, Joseph Gillick, of creating a hostile work environment marked by racial bias and retaliation.
Angelica Reams began her journey with Ripple Labs as a contractor in July 2022 before transitioning to a full-time role as a Data Analyst in November 2022. By February 2024, she was promoted to Program Manager. However, Reams alleges that during her tenure at Ripple Labs, she faced racial discrimination from Joseph Gillick, who made racially charged comments including one during a meeting where he said he would "hang [Reams] like in the olden days" if she made a mistake. This comment left Reams distressed as it evoked images of lynching and severe oppression. Despite reporting these incidents to her superiors Brenda Glasser and Courtney Bruggeman, both Caucasian directors at Ripple Labs, no disciplinary action was taken against Gillick.
Reams further claims that after raising concerns about the hostile work environment created by Gillick's comments and microaggressions, she experienced retaliation culminating in her termination on February 4, 2025. She argues that the reasons given for her dismissal were pretextual and motivated by discrimination and retaliation for her complaints about workplace racism. The complaint outlines several causes of action including race harassment under Gov. Code §12940(j), race discrimination under Gov. Code §12940(a), FEHA retaliation under Gov. Code §12940(h), Labor Code §1102.5 retaliation, failure to prevent harassment under Gov. Code §12940(k), and wrongful termination in violation of public policy.
Reams is seeking various forms of relief from the court including general damages exceeding jurisdictional limits for lost wages and emotional distress; compensatory damages for unpaid wages; punitive damages to punish the defendants; attorneys' fees; costs incurred; prejudgment interest; economic damages; non-economic damages; and any other relief deemed appropriate by the court.
Representing Angelica Reams are attorneys Kelsey A. Webber, Douglas M. Egbert, and Lena K. Foellmer from Webber & Egbert Employment Law P.C., based in Sacramento, California. The case is identified as Case No. CGC-25-622869.