Kennedy Center Allegedly Timed Black Worker's Bathroom Breaks, Suspended Her Twice After Discrimination Complaint

A Black former Kennedy Center employee says managers began documenting how long she spent in the restroom and then suspended her without pay twice in November 2025, four months after she complained of racial discrimination, according to a lawsuit.

Autumn Metcalf sued the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on 27 October 2026 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. Her six-count complaint alleges discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

She worked in the Subscriptions Office from around May 2022 as a 'trust employee', a non-federal role not paid for with federal funds, the complaint says.

The allegations have not been tested in court, and the Kennedy Center has not publicly responded.

A Whiteboard, Then a Race Complaint

Metcalf, who identifies as queer, says she was the only Black woman and only openly queer employee in her office in 2025, when Stephanie M. Atkinson became her second-level supervisor. According to the complaint, trouble began over a small dry-erase board where she wrote jokes and quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin. In March 2025, supervisor Carissa L. Helmer called a meeting about it, saying it was 'not a disciplinary meeting,' then labelled it a 'verbal warning' the next day.

Around 15 July, Atkinson allegedly ordered the board removed, calling its quotes from The Twilight Zone 'negative' and threatening 'insubordination'. A colleague's printout seeking a job for someone who hates people stayed up.

Metcalf's union, IATSE Local 868, wrote to Atkinson the next day about her 'rising concerns about racial discrimination in the office.' On 17 July, Helmer accused her of leaving her desk 'for approximately 25 minutes' and warned of discipline.

At a union meeting on 30 July, associate general counsel Laura Hagan allegedly called the board 'threatening' towards Atkinson.

Warnings, Leave Disputes, and a Restroom Log

The complaint alleges that from late July, Atkinson, Helmer, and assistant manager Jeffery Williams logged her breaks and arrival times.

On 9 October, Atkinson allegedly lamented 'another Black woman gone' at Metcalf's cubicle, then called the assistants of Richard Grenell, the centre's openly gay leader at the time, his 'twinks'. Grenell, who announced his departure in March 2026, is not accused of wrongdoing.

On 29 October, Williams allegedly told her to log 17 minutes of leave for lateness, though she says she arrived at 9:10 a.m., 20 minutes early. When she refused, Atkinson issued a written warning.

On 4 November, according to the complaint, Atkinson and Helmer began documenting her time in the restroom, which the suit calls 'a humiliating intrusion'. One colleague told the union that staff step away from their desks 'sometimes for over 10 minutes' but that she had never been emailed about it.

Two Suspensions Two Days Apart

Around 10 November, Metcalf mentioned 'a meeting with Human Resources' on an unrelated matter, which the suit alleges managers took as a discrimination report.

On 18 November, the complaint alleges, director of sales and ticketing services Derek Younger interjected in her conversation with a mail carrier, called her 'loud' and 'disrespectful', stood less than a foot away blocking the exit, and sent her home unpaid for that day and the next. A colleague who witnessed it said it 'felt like an escalation from 1 to a million that was unjustified.'

When she returned on 20 November, Atkinson and Helmer issued a 'Final Warning' and a 14-day unpaid suspension over alleged 'attendance/timekeeping issues', the suit says, and security escorted her out.

She resigned on 4 December 2025, the day she was due back, blaming Atkinson for 'such an unbearable hostile work environment' based on her identity. Security escorted her again as she collected her belongings, the complaint says.

Her Attempts to File an EEO Complaint

On 17 December 2025, the Smithsonian Institution, which the centre's own policy listed as the place to report discrimination, told Metcalf it 'does not process or accept discrimination complaints from Kennedy Center employees,' according to the complaint. The suit alleges Hagan ignored requests for the centre's EEO contact, and that its EEO webpage was taken down after her lawyers flagged errors in it.

Metcalf filed a charge with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April 2026. Mediation in June 2026 failed, with Hagan attending for the centre, the complaint says. On 29 July 2026, the commission issued a right-to-sue notice, saying it lacked jurisdiction over the quasi-federal venue.

Represented by Sacred B. Huff and Samantha Sloane of Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch, she is seeking back pay, compensatory damages, removal of the disciplinary records, and legal fees.