Delaware County’s former Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer says she was retaliated against and later fired after bringing employment claims for racial discrimination against former interim Chief Administration Officer Marc Woolley.

Lauren Footman (Courtesy of Lauren Footman)

Both Woolley and the complainant, Lauren Footman, are African-American, but Footman said Tuesday that he nonetheless treated Black women working under him differently, and more harshly, than their white counterparts.

“Part of the challenge here is that because these are Black leaders, people are like, ‘Well, they’re Black like you, they can’t be racist!’ ” Footman said Tuesday. “You can certainly be racist and be Black. It’s a very real thing. So having to help people understand that has definitely been part of this journey.”

“I’m not racist or sexist,” said Woolley in response to the complaint, noting he has five sisters, a wife and daughter, and that his family hails originally from Haiti. “I think this is an attempt for her to garner support for her case and it should be played out in the courts if that’s the angle she wants to go. It would be interesting to find out what is really driving this.”

List of grievances

Footman, 32, Yeadon, filed complaints with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in November alleging racial discrimination.

An amended EEOC complaint also includes allegations of disability discrimination after Footman took a medical leave due to what she said was emotional distress from the alleged discrimination and retaliation.

Delaware County Public Relations Director Adrienne Marofsky said that while the county generally does not comment on personnel matters or legal proceedings, it could confirm that Footman was terminated effective Jan. 19 for reasons unrelated to the EEOC complaint and that the county is “vigorously defending itself” in those proceedings.

Footman was hired by the county in April 2022 as its first DEI director. She said she pretty much ran the office on her own for about a year, working to shape its direction, responsibilities in relation to other offices, policies and goals, before any additional staff was allocated.

Footman reported to Woolley from the time of her hiring until an internal investigation into some of her claims in September 2023, after which she reported to former Solicitor William Martin, according to the complaint.

Woolley said that was incorrect, however, and that Footman actually had five supervisors during her tenure: two before him and two after.

The complaint alleges that during that time, Woolley routinely made disparaging remarks about the trustworthiness of African-American employees and failed to support Footman’s endeavors or attempted to outright thwart her initiatives.

The complaint cites several examples, including Woolley making negative comments about transgender people over bathroom plans; allegedly allowing Caucasian employees to go through progressive discipline while failing to do the same for African-American employees who were instead terminated; and approving funding for a white employee to attend a certification class while denying the same opportunity to Black employees.

Woolley disputed each of these examples.

He said he never made any comments about transgender people at all. When Footman approached him with an inclusive bathroom sign and told him a second-floor women’s bathroom was going to be changing over, he said he asked if she had cleared it with public works and legal, and if any training had been provided for people looking for a woman’s bathroom.

Those were not objections, Woolley said, merely questions from an operational standpoint, but Footman took offense. The bathrooms in question are part of a capital works project and are scheduled for renovation this year, he said.

Woolley said he had approved a certification class for one employee, but was then told by County Council that the county would not be sending anyone and that person never went. He said he relayed the same news to the next person that approached him about the class.

Footman cites one example in March 2023 where Wooley allegedly said he provided assistance to one employee because she is an “attractive white woman,” but did not provide that same assistance to Footman.

Woolley said he did help a woman get meetings with individual County Council members to further her ideas because she did not have those connections, but Footman never asked for his help doing the same because she already had those relationships.

“Lauren never asked for my assistance,” he said. “She would go to them directly.”

Woolley added that he never said anything about helping the other woman because she is an “attractive white woman,” even in jest.

Footman said she and Woolley bumped heads constantly, leading to disagreements and Woolley trying to flex his position, which Footman was not having.

“Once he saw that he didn’t have control of what I was doing and what I would speak up about, he tried to make my life a living hell,” she said. “We didn’t get emails to leave early for Fourth of July. He didn’t ask me to submit a DEI budget for the office for the following year. He didn’t give me access to certain supports, like grant-writing support. I had to find out everything and then go advocate for myself. He tried to write people out of my budget. Once he was forced to include my budget, he revved his engine at me.”

Footman said it also became clear that her complaints were falling on deaf ears. It seemed the county liked the idea of planning events celebrating diversity, equality and inclusion more than actually doing any constructive work to support those ideals for constituents, she said.

Despite knowing of these incidents — and hearing complaints from multiple other department directors — Footman said Woolley was still considered as a finalist for an executive director position filled by Barbara O’Malley in January.

Woolley resumed his previous role as deputy executive director at that time.

“So that tells you their commitment to creating a safe environment for their employees,” Footman said. “This council, a council that ran on creating my office, saw him fit to even be considered as a finalist when most people would have fired him. It shows it’s not just a Marc Woolley issue. It’s a Delaware County Council issue.”

Internal investigation

Footman filed internal complaints against Woolley for discrimination, but she said those only resulted in retaliation, such as denying reimbursement for items the DEI office had previously been approved for and refusing to provide necessary documents for a community partnership program.

The county investigated Footman’s claims and issued a memorandum from the solicitor in September. The investigation concluded that Woolley had not discriminated against African-American women and had actually engaged Footman in drafting an improvement plan for at least one of the people terminated, but the person was fired after Footman’s own notes showed she was unqualified for the position.

The county investigation likewise found that Woolley had not made any disparaging remarks about the LGBTQA+ community —a point Footman disputed Tuesday — that there was no evidence Woolley tried to stall Footman’s initiatives, and that most of the friction came from the fact that the DEI office did not have its own budget.

Woolley did acknowledge that because DEI is not its own department, its budget comes out of the executive director’s budget. Any expenses would have to go through procurement and be approved, he said, but he said he approved everything that was put before him.

Footman took leave in November under the Family and Medical Leave Act due to what she said was emotional distress caused by the ongoing discrimination and retaliation.

Updated filing

Footman said it was apparently decided during her leave that she was going to be fired and that she was provided a separation agreement upon her return Jan. 4 that offered her a 12-week severance if she agreed to withdraw her EEOC and PHRC complaints.

In an amended complaint, Footman said that the county retaliated against her initial EEOC filing by removing her from the Immigrant Affairs Committee that she managed and placing the DEI office under the leadership of Woolley, her “harasser.”

Footman additionally registered a discrimination complaint after learning that two of Woolley’s subordinates questioned the validity of her leave — an alleged Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act violation that Footman said has still not been addressed — and claims the county is now failing to provide her with information regarding health insurance and her pension.

“I’m still going back and forth with them to even get my vacation payout,” Footman said. “So really, they’ve tried to create hardship even after I did not sign (the separation agreement).”

Footman said she is currently awaiting a determination from EEOC and PHRC, after which she will likely move toward litigation on the basis of racial and disability discrimination.

“I hope that this is an opportunity not only for people to understand my story, but for people to take the time to really understand the stories and the experiences of people that are still working for the county that are suffering in silence,” she said.

County response

Marofsky issued a response stating that it is County Council’s mission to build a community where diversity, equity and inclusion are recognized as core values that drive decision-making, resource allocation, and the development of policies and practices.

Marofsky said the county continues to dedicate staff to those efforts today, and noted a disparity study approved by council and begun by Footman last year is ongoing.

The results of that study are expected in August, which should lead to greater diversity in contracting, according to the statement. Council also contracted with a provider in February review the county’s DEI work thus far and provide recommendations on future endeavors.

“We are proud to be a county with diverse leadership in council, leading an ever-increasingly diverse workforce,” the statement reads. “Addressing diversity is only part of this work and we look forward to strengthening our partnerships across the county and within our workforce to ensure our services are delivered equitably and that everyone’s voice is heard and respected. We are proud of our accomplishments and are looking forward to continuing that meaningful work.”

“It’s actually a shame that we’re here,” Woolley said. “We have a lot of initiatives that are coming down the pike for the county and we find ourselves mired in this conversation, and it’s unfortunate.”