I never wanted this to happen to me. . . .

Let’s put one thing to rest, I never wanted to sue or be in the position where I had to sue AARP.  The last six years have not been fun for me, in fact they have been the toughest years of my 50 years on this planet.  I have spent 12% of my life fighting the wealthiest non-profit in the world (after the catholic church) trying to get my life back and restore my career.  There are times in your life where you must stand up for yourself, especially when you know you were discriminated against, this was one of those times.  I am thankful to have my husband Mark who supported me every step, knowing that if we lost, he would most likely never be able to retire, it was that real.  Without his love and support, I would not have been able to get through the last 6 years.  I consider myself very lucky that I was able to afford to fight (BARELY) and stand up for myself, as I know many others who were not.  I will also give myself some credit, as I know that because I was able to fight, there is now new discrimination case law on the books that will hopefully help others who find themselves in a similar situation.  I hope following their defeat in court, AARP finally looks internally and begins to make the necessary changes so that this doesn't happen a third time to a gay employee. 

AARP has very deep pockets, remember they take in almost $2 BILLION tax free dollars every year, and as such, they use their wealth and might against any employee who tries to stand up for themself.  They say how great they are and all the good they do, but in fact they act however they want, including discriminating against employees whose work helped get them that money, with the knowledge that very few are able to afford to fight.  This is how AARP has handled the multiple lawsuits that have been filed against them during the time I worked there.  I honestly don’t think things were that bad before Jo Ann Jenkins became CEO in 2014, I feel like the association was truly an association with a mission to do good and I enjoyed working there.  Following her being made CEO, the climate shifted and it felt more divisive, combative, and non-inclusive. Contrary to what you might believe, I do not believe AARP as a whole is homophobic, but I am proof there are decision makers in power who are and allowed me to be discriminated against and fired. I worked there almost 11 years and had an amazing reputation and was known as a top performer. I had zero HR issues, never been put on a warning or PIP. I got top marks every year on my reviews. None of that mattered. I was targeted by people who worked in my department and called a liar in the final report written by ECO Director Jon Easley and then fired by ASI CEO Larry Flanagan.

Following my termination, I see zero evidence where they stopped to analyze if they were in the wrong or how this happened. They did the opposite, attacking me and my character, continually delaying the litigation and trying to get the lawsuit dismissed and my guess, focused on driving me to bankruptcy - because how dare I have the nerve sue them!!! Even a two week jury trial where they lost doesn't matter to them, they are asking the judge to overturn the jury verdict in a 32 page motion which continues their attack on me (btw- they were only allowed 20 pages, but as always, rules don't apply to them). While they won’t win, and Im pretty sure they know that, they continue to try to inflict as much pain and suffering on me as possible.  It’s how the association operates under Mrs. Jenkins and apparently there isn’t an adult in the room to stop it. Hey AARP Board of Directors, why don't you stop allowing the CEO to waste millions of members dollars fighting a lawsuit you already lost in a court of law. Oh that's right, you all are afraid of her, right?!?

Being discriminatorily fired completely changed my life and I am still suffering because of it. It is those discriminated against that suffer, not those who do the discrimination. I’ve lost close friends, business associates and contacts, my reputation has been ruined, and I have not been able to find a job for more than five years.  I have also suffered immense personal trauma and had to start taking medications over the last 6 years to help me sleep and calm my daily anxiety. Since being informed I was being investigated due to anonymous complaints found in a complaint box more than 6 years ago through the end of the trial, I had not slept through the night without some form of medication. Falling asleep was never the issue, but it was the waking at 1,2,3 or 4 am and not being able to sleep after because my mind was racing on the lawsuit, money worries, upcoming dates in the lawsuit and the continual delay driven by AARP. I’ll go into all of this in the coming weeks/months. 

I’ve paid a deep price because of the discrimination, while those who discriminated against me have not.  While my life was in tatters, each one of them kept their jobs and continued their lives as normal. I guess that is what being "powerful" means, the ability to do wrong and not have to pay the price for it. Even with my win, AARP is paying for everything, so really, it doesn't matter to them, it isn't their retirement savings or investments that were spent fighting this fight. We had to sell a home my husband owned outright in Houston, TX that we rented as we needed the cash when I was laid off from Arcadia and the ongoing legal costs. Makes you wonder why they fought me so hard?!? I will also share some insights into those I believe started this situation, but know anyone in a leadership position could have acted differently and stood up for me to try to stop what was happening.  They chose not to, I'm looking at you Angela Jones and Laurel Gillis.

I’ll also include the continual assault on my character, the gas lighting, and the lies perpetuated by those who discriminated against me.  While they continually called me a liar, they were the ones lying.  Mr. Easley lied on the stand about when he learned about my being a homosexual- he stated that he did not know about my being gay when he did the New York investigation and that was done first and then he did the Sugar Bowl. Hmm, the dates I know about Mr. Herd, Heather Ingram and I being interviewed are Jan 29-31, 2018 and I was interviewed only once for the two investigations. How could you not know about it during the New York investigation, but I was interviewed one time for both?

My accounting of the events has been the same since the day I was fired, their’s has not.  The person who decided to fire me and the reason I was fired changed as they continued to lose in court – all of this is documented and will be shared.  We saw victory after victory in court, and shockingly, they would not settle.  The judge even informed them that mediation to negotiate a settlement was available at the start of our pre-trial in December 2022 and even ended that hearing with the same suggestion. They chose to ignore her advice. I knew getting to court would mean that I could finally prove I was discriminated against and I was correct.  Its nice when things are correct.  Writing this blog will hopefully be informative to you and cathartic for me.

Please subscribe to stay informed as I post more of my story.  Glad to have you along for the journey.