March 2, 2026
Lawsuit Against Pittsburgh Call Center Whose Manager Allegedly Referred To Black Employees As ‘Good Blacks, Not N*****s’ Can Proceed
A supervisor is accused of referring to an employee's Black husband as "garbage" and saying that the husband was “going to bring her down.”
A federal judge ruled that a racial discrimination lawsuit against a call center whose supervisor allegedly told a Black employee to get “those monkeys in line” and made a reference to workers as “good blacks, not n*****s, can proceed, Atlanta Black Star reports.
U.S. District Judge Mark R. Hornak gave a discrimination lawsuit against Allegheny Health Network (AHN) the green light after plaintiffs, including a white director who alleges he was fired for speaking up, presented strong evidence of continuous racial slurs and discriminatory conduct by AHN management. Hornak felt a jury may believe “a stark picture of outright racial bigotry.”
The 2021 lawsuit, filed by Santos Albert, accuses director Diane Allen of making derogatory and unprofessional remarks about him and his direct supervisor, John Guthrie, shortly after being hired.
In one incident, while holding a photo of a white employee’s husband, who is Black, Allen allegedly said, “Look at this garbage, I thought she was a nice girl.” She continued to make claims that the husband was “going to bring her down.”
Another time, Allen allegedly mocked Albert for being a K-Mart and Walmart shopper, calling it “ghetto.”
Then there was a time when Allen allegedly told Albert to focus on “getting those monkeys in line” after inquiring about an operations manager role. One of the most eye-opening comments was made during a May 2019 meeting when Allen allegedly asked, “Who are they going to believe, us or a nasty, lying Black woman?” while describing a dispute with an employee at AHN’s parent company.
Also, in April 2018, Allen allegedly planned to fire all the Black employees from the company. Guthrie feels it was he reporting it that resulted in his termination, according to The Inquisitr.
Albert also accused his former supervisor described him and another employee as “good blacks, not n*****s. According to him, she referred to a senior operations manager, who is of Middle Eastern descent, as a “sand n*****.”
Outside of the racial discrimination and humiliation Santos endured, he claims Allen used to force him to do things outside of his work scope, even though he wasn’t trained on it, and attend 6 a.m. orthopedic meetings. During his testimony, Allen said the changes were designed to make him fail on purpose.
Allegheny Health Network has denied any discrimination and retaliation efforts within the organization, but it is up to a jury to decide with a conference on the ongoing case scheduled for September 2. While it was found that Allen was let go from her position in 2019, the Pittsburgh-based company has been under intensified scrutiny due to the litigation, pushing for sudden policy changes and racism training.
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