- October 30, 2024
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A former Flagler County engineer has filed a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the county over her termination after almost two decades of employment.
Faith Alkhatib — once the face of the county’s work with emergency beach renourishment and the U.S. Army Corps project — worked at Flagler County in various positions for the last 18 years. In the fall of 2023, Alkhatib filed for a medical leave of absence and was ultimately terminated on Dec. 5 when she was denied an extension and did not return to work.
Now, over six months later, she has filed a lawsuit alleging the county unjustly terminated her employment, citing discrimination because of her Palestinian ethnicity and retaliation for multiple discrimination complaints. During her tenure at the county, Alkhatib, according to the lawsuit, filed multiple complaints with the Florida Commission on Human Relations and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under the Whistleblower Act.
Among Alkhatib’s demands, the lawsuit seeks “judgment again the defendant” for each violation, reimbursement for Alkhatib’s attorney’s fees and costs and “all legally-available general and compensatory damages and economic loss” to Alkhatib, including interest.
The lawsuit was filed on May 23 and Flagler County’s attorney has yet to file a response to the claims. The Observer reached out to both Alkhatib and County Attorney Al Hadeed for comment, both deferring questions to their attorneys for the case.
Hadeed said the county’s insurance carrier assigned the case to attorney Susan Erdelyi of Marks Gray Law Firm in Jacksonville. Erdelyi declined to comment on the case except to say the county’s response would made through the court process.
“We will respond. We're just going to respond in a court process where rules of evidence apply,” Erdelyi said.
Alkhatib’s 15-page lawsuit — filed on her behalf by her lawyer, Tallahassee attorny Marie Mattox with Mattox Law — details almost two decades of allegations where Flagler County employees passed Alkhatib over for promotions in favor of less qualified candidates and excluded her from meetings on projects under her purview. It lists multiple Flagler County employees as party to the discriminatory conduct, including former County Administrator Jerry Cameron, current County Administrator Heidi Petito, Human Resources Director Pam Wu, Assistant County Engineer Hamid Tabassian, Deputy County Administrator Jorge Salinas and others.
The lawsuit alleges the above individuals and others in the county government created an environment of “isolation, harassment, racism, toxicity, hostile work environment, and other problems for departments, employees, and [Alkhatib].”
The lawsuit also states that not only was Alkhatib discriminated against, but at several points in April and May 2023, she was pressured by county administrators to illegally dispose of sand left in a county parking lot, despite multiple state, federal and local laws regulating the process.
Alkhatib even states that her complaints filed with the Human Resources department were not investigated or followed through, the lawsuit said, including several sexual harassment complaints.
In June 2023, Alkhatib filed for a 12-week leave through the Family and Medical Leave Act. Her request was approved, but not used until late August. She was approved for leave to November and later received approval to extend that leave through November, the lawsuit said. Alkhatib requested a second extension in November but was denied an FMLA extension.
In late November, Alkhatib was emailed that she was expected back at work on Nov. 27 but was not told what the consequences would be if she did not. When she didn’t return, the lawsuit said, Alkhatib was “wrongfully terminated under the guise that she resigned which Defendant [Flagler County] alleged took place after [Alkhatib] failed to return to work.”
