A former employee has filed a lawsuit against a prominent real estate services firm, alleging severe discrimination and retaliation during and after her pregnancy. Nakia Terry filed the complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on September 11, 2024, accusing Avison Young — Atlanta, LLC of violating multiple federal laws.
The case centers around Ms. Terry's tenure as a Client Services Coordinator at Avison Young’s Atlanta office. According to the complaint, Ms. Terry faced relentless discrimination and retaliation due to her pregnancy, postpartum depression, and anxiety, compounded by racial bias because she is African American. The complaint outlines that Ms. Terry’s difficulties began when she went on maternity leave in October 2022 due to complications including preeclampsia, which necessitated an emergency C-section. Upon returning to work in January 2023, she was met with unusual demands from her employer requiring a doctor's note for her return.
Ms. Terry promptly provided a doctor’s note recommending work-from-home accommodations to manage her postpartum condition. However, Avison Young initially resisted this request and subjected her to unnecessary scrutiny and paperwork requirements before finally approving only part of the requested accommodations in April 2023. Following this approval, Ms. Terry alleges that she experienced retaliatory behavior from her team, including increased scrutiny of her work performance and attendance—a level of oversight not applied to her non-Black or male colleagues.
The complaint details several incidents highlighting discriminatory practices within the company. For instance, in April 2023, executives Samantha Saunders and Kirk Rich allegedly taunted Ms. Terry about her work performance without providing specific examples of deficiencies and made discriminatory comments about motherhood in the workplace. Further harassment included being followed to the wellness room for pump breaks by Chris Godfrey and other team members.
Despite reporting these concerns to Human Resources Representative Bethany Marimacci, no remedial action was taken; instead, Ms. Terry continued facing increased scrutiny and adverse treatment. By June 2023, she was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), which she claims was pretextual and designed to create grounds for termination despite satisfactory job performance prior to requesting accommodations.
On August 23, 2023, Avison Young terminated Ms. Terry’s employment via a Teams call citing alleged performance issues that arose only after she requested accommodations—a move she asserts was retaliatory.
Ms. Terry is seeking judgment for back pay, front pay, compensatory damages for emotional distress and suffering caused by the discrimination and retaliation she endured at Avison Young—Atlanta LLC., as well as punitive damages due to the willful nature of these violations.
The case is represented by attorney Aaron B. Maduff from Barrett & Farahany law firm with Case ID: 1:24-cv-08303.