A recent lawsuit claims that an employee was terminated after reporting sexual harassment by her supervisor, raising concerns about workplace retaliation and compliance with federal civil rights laws. The complaint was filed by Virginia Watkins in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on March 12, 2026, naming GA 1 OPS LLC as the defendant.
According to the court filing, Watkins began working as a Dietary Aide for GA 1 OPS LLC on or about December 4, 2023. The complaint states that in May 2025, while working in the kitchen, Watkins’ manager allegedly pressed himself against her in a sexual manner without consent or communication. The document describes how Watkins felt unable to move away due to her position against a table and that the incident left her feeling uncomfortable and scared.
The complaint further reports that following this alleged incident, Watkins deliberately avoided interacting with her manager. It is claimed that once the manager realized she would not respond positively to his advance, he began questioning her work performance and issuing write-ups for minor infractions that were not enforced with other employees. Watkins alleges that these actions amounted to retaliation.
Watkins reported both the alleged assault and subsequent retaliation to the facility’s administrator Jeremy and the Director of Nursing at the end of May or beginning of June 2025. She informed them about what had occurred and expressed how it affected her emotionally. According to the filing, Jeremy spoke with Jason—the manager accused—shortly after receiving Watkins’ report. However, Watkins claims that following this meeting, retaliation escalated: she received multiple write-ups for what she describes as minor or fabricated infractions and experienced threatening behavior from Jason.
Attempts by Watkins to contact Jeremy again reportedly went unanswered despite leaving voicemails seeking help regarding ongoing issues in the kitchen. On June 9, 2025, according to court documents, Jason called Watkins into his office—accompanied by a Human Resources employee—and informed her she was being written up and terminated for allegedly not washing dishes.
The lawsuit asserts that any legitimate reasons provided by GA 1 OPS LLC for these adverse actions are pretextual and intended to conceal unlawful retaliation under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. “As a result of Defendant’s unlawful retaliation,” reads the complaint, “Plaintiff has suffered damages, including lost wages and emotional distress.” The filing also contends that GA 1 OPS LLC acted willfully and wantonly disregarded Plaintiff’s rights.
Watkins seeks several forms of relief from the court: damages for lost wages and benefits (with prejudgment interest), compensation for emotional distress, punitive damages due to alleged bad faith conduct by GA 1 OPS LLC, declaratory judgment affirming violation of rights under Title VII, reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses, injunctive relief such as reinstatement or front pay in lieu thereof along with an order prohibiting further similar conduct by defendants.
The legal team representing Virginia Watkins includes V. Severin Roberts (Georgia Bar No. 940504) and Patrick Reid (Georgia Bar No. 888769) from The Workers’ Firm based in Atlanta. The case is identified as Civil Action No. 2:26-cv-O0066-RWS-AWH.
Source: 226cv00066_Virginia_Watkins_v_GA_OPS_Complaint_Northern_District_of_Georiga_pdf.pdf
