Jim Rosica
A native of Belize has sued Florida A&M University for terminating her, partly because her accent was so thick “no one could understand what she was saying.”
Glenda McDougall filed her suit in Leon County Circuit Civil court late Friday.
McDougall, represented by Tallahassee attorney Marie Mattox, seeks more than $15,000 in damages and reinstatement of her employment.
Belize, a country of roughly 8,800 square miles and 370,000 people, is on the eastern coast of Central America.
It’s the only Central American nation where English is the primary language; its previous name was “British Honduras.”
The complaint says McDougall, who is black, started working at FAMU in 2000 and was let go in August 2014.
She says she was the victim of discrimination because of an “actual or perceived disability and (because of) her national origin, Belizean.”
McDougall had been working for the school’s Parking Services but needed a transfer to a sit-down job after injuring her knee.
She was moved to the university’s Communication Center as a dispatcher without any issues, the suit said.
After she asked for time off, supervisors told her she could no longer work there because “no one could understand” her.
State universities generally decline to comment on pending litigation. A university spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email.
