LOS ANGELES, January 19, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A suit naming the Governor of the State of California, California’s State Treasurer, Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles (PPLA), and others, was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday afternoon (Andrew Jones v. Planned Parenthood of Los Angeles, et al.).
The legal action was filed by Andrew Jones, the former Project Manager of the Community Services/Education Department of PPLA. Mr. Jones worked for PPLA for several years and is African-American. The verified complaint seeks recovery for unlawful termination, racial and sexual harassment, and a failure to pay overtime. Jones’ suit alleges that PPLA allowed overt racism and sexism to infect its facilities in early 2004.
Among other allegations, it is alleged that PPLA did nothing when one of its employees was referred to as a “nigger.” Additionally, the suit, filed under penalty of perjury, alleges that PPLA portrayed African-American males as being irresponsible and that male employees were regularly referred to as “dickheads” and other offensive terms by the white female management.
Affidavits by other female PPLA staff were also filed Tuesday. One swore, “There was a sense that any employee who was not a white female was going to be carefully watched. . . . [T]here was a strong anti-male bias at PPLA.” Another refers to, “a significant anti-male bias.” Jones’ lawsuit also seeks a court order requiring the Governor of the State of California, the State Treasurer, and the Director of California’s Health & Human Services Agency to immediately stop funding PPLA due to its racist practices and because of its failure to disclose serious failures in its accounting systems.
In part, the plaintiff relies on a late-2003 single audit finding by the certified public accounting firm of RBZ LLC that PPLA “did not comply with requirements regarding reporting that are applicable to its Family Planning Services program.” Additionally, the complaint alleges it was only after Jones questioned the financial practices of PPLA that he was fired. According to the complaint, he was given a stellar employee review just days before his termination.
Pursuant to California law, grantees or recipients such as PPLA must refrain from discrimination in order to qualify for taxpayer-funded programs. PPLA is subject to reporting requirements and must be able to demonstrate financial viability on state loan programs. In May 2004, Plaintiff “placed Defendant PPLA on notice of “accounting miscues, angry patients, and disgruntled gatekeepers,” according to the complaint.
According to Richard D. Ackerman, Jones’ lead attorney, “California cannot continue funding PPLA’s programs, especially when California is looking at cutting funding to schools and emergency health care facilities. There are other agencies that can offer the same services as PPLA without misrepresenting their financial condition, and without engaging in racism and sexism.”
Finally, the suit makes mention of the fact that PPLA concocted a scheme to place an abortion facility in South Los Angeles without being honest about its purpose. It is alleged that Jones and others were instructed to market the facility to the African-American community as being a non-abortion facility.
It appears that PPLA was aware of the fact that African-Americans do not want their unborn children eliminated by abortion, and PPLA knew that it could not get community support if they came into town promoting the disintegration of future generations of African-American children.
The complaint alleges, “Plaintiff refused to engage in PPLA promotional practices that were intended to deceive the African-American community in South Los Angeles . . . Plaintiff, an African-American, was not comfortable being forced to misrepresent facts to other similarly situated persons.”