Justly Prudent files race discrimination lawsuit against Prince George's County on behalf of Latina paralegal

Complaint describes race-based harassment, ICE-related threats, and a constructive demotion 27 days after the employee filed a formal discrimination complaint.

UPPER MARLBORO, MD, UNITED STATES, March 18, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Justly Prudent, a civil rights law firm, has filed a race discrimination lawsuit in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland, on behalf of Sofia Franco, a Paralegal Supervisor employed by Prince George's County Government within the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement.

The fifteen-count complaint names the county and Ms. Franco's supervisor, Michelle Lyons, as defendants. It brings claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Maryland Fair Employment Practices Act, and the Prince George's County Human Rights Act.

According to the complaint, Ms. Franco was hired in January 2023 and was the only Hispanic employee in her section. The filing states that beginning in January 2024, Lyons directed racially hostile comments at Ms. Franco, including referring to her as "the new Spanish bi**h on the 5th floor" during a telephone call. The complaint further states that Lyons made repeated references to immigration enforcement and ICE raids in Ms. Franco's presence and told her that her "cleaning lady got deported because she's Latina," warning Ms. Franco to "be careful."

The complaint describes a pattern of conduct in which Ms. Franco's core paralegal duties were reassigned to a non-Hispanic coworker who held a lower-level administrative position. According to the complaint, her access to workplace timekeeping systems was revoked while similarly situated employees retained full access, and she was barred from communicating with the Office of Law, a core function of her position.

The complaint states that Ms. Franco reported the conduct to at least four county officials across multiple levels of management between 2024 and 2025. But no investigation was conducted in response to any of these reports.

According to the complaint, Ms. Franco filed a formal EEO complaint with the county's Office of Human Resources Management on December 12, 2025. Then, less than one month later, the county issued an involuntary transfer moving Ms. Franco from her paralegal role to a unit reviewing construction applications. The complaint states that the county drafted a new position description that preserved Ms. Franco's classification title while removing all substantive paralegal duties, and that Ms. Franco's new supervisor confirmed the change was made at HR's direction.

The lawsuit seeks reinstatement to Ms. Franco's prior position, restoration of workplace privileges, and institutional reforms including mandatory anti-discrimination training, among other relief.

"Ms. Franco reported the harassment through every channel available to her, and every channel failed," said Managing Attorney Jordan D. Howlette. "This lawsuit seeks to hold Prince George's County accountable for those failures."

The case is Sofia Franco v. Prince George's County, Maryland, et al., filed in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland (Case No. C-16-CV-26-001360).

Lars Kroner
Justly Prudent
202-921-6080
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook

Legal Disclaimer:

EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.