EAST ST. LOUIS - A former employee of Ascend Cannabis is suing the company, alleging she was sexually harassed by another employee for months and then terminated and denied access to the cannabis dispensary in retaliation for reporting the alleged actions.
Plaintiff Tomi England filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Chicago Alternative Health Center LLC, doing business as Ascend Cannabis, citing discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation for reporting the sexual harassment.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff was an employee of Ascend Cannabis and was employed from Jan. 28, 2019 to March 22, 2021. She claims that employees of Ascend Cannabis discriminated against her on basis of her gender from February 2021 until she was terminated from her position on March 22, 2021. She further alleges that the company retaliated against her for filing a charge of discrimination with the EEOC and the IDHR by denying her access to its cannabis dispensary for her prescribed medical cannabis.
The lawsuit claims that in February 2021, Ascend hired Steve Garmon as its new general manager, who allegedly quickly began a pattern of sexual harassment against the plaintiff and other women in the company that included unwelcome and inappropriate touching, sexual comments, and creating a hostile workplace.
The plaintiff claims she brought the matter up with Ascend management, but they allegedly refused to do anything about it and told her to work it out herself with Garmon. England claims she had already asked Garmon to cease his behavior and that he ignored her requests.
England alleges Garmon began a series of retaliatory actions against her, including denying her a transfer request to another location, writing her up for refusing to work after hours and finally terminating her employment on March 22, 2021.
England filed a charge of discrimination with the EEOC and the IDHR on May 11, 2021, and she says that the company retaliated against her further by denying her access to its cannabis dispensary for her prescribed medical cannabis.
As a result, the plaintiff claims she has suffered a "loss of compensation and benefits, future wages, emotional distress, humiliation, and depravation of civil rights."
England is requesting the court enter a judgement in her favor, and award compensatory damages, punitive damages, court costs, attorney fees and any other relief the court deems proper. She is represented in this case by attorney Melvin D. Kennedy of the Law Office of Melvin D. Kennedy, LLC in St. Louis.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number CV-01254-RJD