David Jeffcoat worked as a gate attendant for over six years there. He said he generally kept his personal life to himself. He received a promotion to operations supervisor last year, and said his superiors promised him training and feedback in the new role because it would take at least a year to master.
In October, Jeffcoat鈥檚 husband got sick with COVID-19. He told his supervisors his male 鈥減artner鈥� had exposed him to the virus, as per Arboretum policy.
After that, things changed.
鈥淚t was like they were not trying to help me at all, they were just trying to tell me what to do,鈥� Jeffcoat told 四虎影院. 鈥淪eeing if they could make it tough enough on me to where I would quit. That鈥檚 what it felt like.鈥�
In an emailed statement, the Arboretum said it respects the LGBTQ+ community, and noted an upcoming celebration for Pride Month: the event on June 11.
鈥淭he Arboretum takes all allegations of discrimination very seriously, including allegations of sexual orientation discrimination,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淲e are sad that an employee would feel they had been treated unfairly. We will thoroughly investigate the allegations made by the former employee."
In the Jeffcoat filed with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, he said his bosses started scheduling him for back-to-back shifts. They gave him one day to set up the popular 鈥淐hristmas Village,鈥� with little guidance. When he left a tote of decorations inside one of the small village houses 鈥� decorations he didn鈥檛 know were destined for the trash 鈥� an Arboretum vice president cursed at him in front of multiple coworkers.
鈥淭his treatment was markedly different from the treatment he had received before,鈥� the complaint says. 鈥淣o longer was the Arboretum providing him with the training, assistance, support and feedback it promised him when he first began as the Operations Supervisor.鈥�
This is the second EEOC complaint brought against the Arboretum this year by Lambda Legal, the LGBTQ civil rights organization. The first was in January. An anonymous employee said her use of gender pronouns in her email signature played a part in her firing.
The Dallas Arboretum is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and hosted .
Jeffcoat鈥檚 salary as an operations supervisor was $40,000 annually, less than ten percent of what the Arboretum鈥檚 CEO Mary Brinegar in 2019. Before his promotion, in June 2021, Jeffcoat made $11.40 an hour as a gate attendant.
The city of Dallas owns the Arboretum鈥檚 66 acres and contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to its operation. It sent a letter of warning after the January complaint, saying the city 鈥渢akes these matters seriously.鈥�
Dallas Parks and Recreation emailed a statement to 四虎影院 on Thursday about the new complaint, saying 鈥渃ontracted and management partner organizations are expected to adhere to the city鈥檚 non-discrimination policies and practices, as well as follow state and federal anti-discrimination laws.鈥�
Shelly Skeen, a lawyer with Lambda, said her understanding is that the EEOC is 鈥渋nterviewing people who [worked] or work for the Arboretum鈥� in relation to the January complaint, including her anonymous client.
Jeffcoat hopes his complaint leads to a change in how Arboretum is run.
鈥淚 want supervision to where they鈥檙e accountable of what goes on,鈥� he said. 鈥淸So] it鈥檚 not swept under the rug.鈥�
Got a tip? Email Bret Jaspers at bjaspers@kera.org. You can follow Bret on Twitter .
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