A former Black employee of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has filed a federal lawsuit accusing the Washington, D.C.-based performing arts institution of racial profiling, retaliation, and fostering a hostile work environment that she says forced her to resign, Forbes reports.
Autumn Metcalf, a queer Black woman who worked in the center’s subscriptions office from 2022 to 2025, alleges that supervisors subjected her to excessive surveillance and disciplinary measures
not imposed on white colleagues, according to the outlet.The lawsuit claims managers repeatedly questioned Metcalf’s whereabouts, monitored her restroom breaks, and accused her of spending excessive time away from her workstation. Kennedy Center supervisors also allegedly ordered her to remove a whiteboard displaying jokes and inspirational messages outside her cubicle.
Metcalf further alleges that her manager, Stephanie Atkinson, made inappropriate remarks about Black employees who had left the organization. The complaint also accuses Atkinson of commenting about former interim director Richard Grenell’s assistants that Metcalf considered homophobic.
The alleged discrimination escalated in November 2025 when Derek Younger, the center’s director of sales and ticketing services, confronted Metcalf during an encounter she described as aggressive and threatening. She was subsequently suspended without pay.
After returning to work, Metcalf received another two-week suspension before resigning. She contends that the repeated disciplinary actions and treatment by management created intolerable working conditions.
The complaint includes statements from former colleagues who reportedly questioned management’s treatment of Metcalf. One coworker alleged that supervisors disproportionately scrutinized her movements, while another described the confrontation preceding her suspension as an unjustified escalation.
Metcalf also accuses Kennedy Center Associate General Counsel Laura Hagan of dismissing her discrimination concerns and obstructing her efforts to file an equal employment opportunity complaint.
The lawsuit comes as the Kennedy Center faces separate legal challenges involving leadership decisions and the institution’s temporary closure under President Donald Trump’s chairmanship.
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