UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA VIRGINIA GUILLEN PEREZ, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 17-cv-2086 (CRC) DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SERVICES et al., Defendants. OPINION AND ORDER Virginia Guillen Perez began working as a clerical assistant in the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services in 2012. When she was terminated in October 2016, she brought suit against her former employer, alleging that it had discriminated and retaliated against her in violation of an assortment of federal laws. The defendants have filed a partial motion to dismiss several of the claims Guillen raised as well as two of the defendants she sued. The Court will grant the motion in part and deny it in part. I. Factual Background The following factual background is drawn from Guillen’s amended complaint, taking her well-pled factual allegations as true as the Court must at this point in the case, see Doe v. Rumsfeld, 683 F.3d 390, 391 (D.C. Cir. 2012). On September 4, 2012, Guillen was hired as a Clerical Assistant by the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (“the Department”). Am. Compl. ¶ 10. Guillen is a Hispanic woman who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic. Id. ¶ 7. In or around August 2014, Guillen informed the Department that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Id. ¶ 11. A few months later, in October 2014, Guillen underwent surgery for her cancer and received authorization to take leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act for her procedure and recovery. Id. ¶¶ 13–16. Due to complications, Guillen was unable to return to work until December 2014. Id. ¶¶ 17–22.1 When she returned, she had a new supervisor, Quinett Warrick. Id. ¶ 22. According to Guillen, Warrick was unhappy that she had taken and continued to take leave for her medical issues and instituted a series of retaliatory actions, including giving Guillen negative performance reviews in weekly reports and altering Guillen’s time cards. Id. ¶¶ 23, 25, 30. Around that time, Guillen also began complaining about receiving less pay than her African-American coworkers, and filed a complaint alleging racial discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). Id. ¶¶ 26–27, 41. Guillen also complained to Warrick about other perceived double standards in the workplace, including that Warrick would allow African-American coworkers to show up late to work or to take unscheduled breaks but required Guillen to strictly follow the work schedule. Id. ¶¶ 33–39. When Warrick told Guillen she could not do anything about the unequal pay, Guillen wrote to another Department employee (the complaint does not specify her position), Monnikka Madison, seeking a raise. Id. ¶ 48. After speaking to Madison, Guillen received a letter from the Director of the Department providing her advance notice of a proposed 10-day suspension. Id. ¶ 54. This suspension was allegedly based on Guillen mishandling two client phone calls. Id. ¶ 55. Guillen mediated the proposed suspension through her union’s procedure. Id. ¶¶ 57–60. The next month, on September ...
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