Black Worker Complains About Racist Gorilla Photo, Then Finds It Pinned Inside Her Locker Before Being Fired, Lawsuit Says

A Black woman says a gorilla photo she reported as racist was removed from a noticeboard at her Michigan workplace and pinned inside her locker the same day. Less than a year later, she was fired over phone use she says had been approved.

Juanita Porter, of Southfield, was placed by staffing agency Ultimate LLC at the Brighton facility of WillScot, an Arizona-based portable office and storage company. On 5 November 2026, she sued both in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, alleging racial discrimination, sexual harassment, a hostile work environment, and retaliation.

Porter started construction and yard work there in May 2025. Within her first week, a trainer told her a joke about police beating 'the black off' a Black person, according to the lawsuit.

In July 2025, a supervisor allegedly referred to lynching, and another co-worker said she could not stand people who were 'black and old'. In August, a co-worker who refused to train Porter allegedly told a supervisor, 'I'm not training this black b*tch and she probably can't read and Imaa get that b*tch fired.'

Gorilla Photo Moved From Noticeboard to Locker

In October 2025, an image of a gorilla appeared on the facility's noticeboard. Porter objected to her supervisor that it was racist, but it stayed up for several weeks and came down only when staff needed space for open enrolment paperwork.

That same day, it reappeared, pinned inside her locker.

'The appearance of the gorilla picture inside Plaintiff's work locker made clear that the gorilla picture and racial harassment were targeted and ongoing,' the complaint states.

Porter made verbal and written complaints, then went to WillScot's general manager in November 2025. She told Detroit's WDIV the manager replied, 'I understand that it was a gorilla picture, but did it have your name on it?'

Days later, she was made to work outside alone and then moved to WillScot's Warren location. The lawsuit calls both steps retaliation.

Harassment Allegations Followed Her to Warren

At Warren, the complaint alleges, her new supervisor suggested they have sex in a trailer on site and touched her breasts more than once. Porter says she reported him and that a manager admitted knowing but did nothing.

'He acted like he made a mistake and touched my breasts. This happened three different occasions,' she told the station.

On 1 September 2026, nearly a year after the locker incident, Porter was fired, the suit says, for using her phone at work for a medical appointment. She acknowledges phone use requires permission but says she had it.

Attorney Calls WillScot Case a 'Company-Wide Issue'

Her attorney, Zachary Runyan of St. Clair Shores-based Runyan Law Group, told WDIV, 'To think that this is still going on today over two different facilities, to me, that signifies this isn't a personnel problem. This is a company-wide issue.'

The suit invokes Michigan's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. Citing stress, depression, reputational damage, and economic losses, Porter seeks unspecified damages, legal fees, and trial by jury. 'They need diversity training,' she said of the companies.