A former Hyundai executive at the automaker’s Montgomery plant has filed a federal lawsuit, claiming she was fired from her position after being singularly excluded from leadership, with her position diminished because of racism.

Yvette Gilkey-Shuford, who said she was previously the top ranked female and Black executive at the auto factory until her position was terminated in June, earlier filed a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Her lawsuit was filed today in U.S. District Court for Alabama’s middle district. She is suing for compensatory and punitive damages, back pay and lost benefits.

In a statement, Robert Burns, vice president of human resources & administration at Hyundai Motors Manufacturing Alabama, said the company “respectfully disagrees with the claims outlined by the former employee. The claims will be vigorously defended with information presented during the litigation process.

“HMMA provides a workplace free of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin or ancestry, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, uniformed service member status or any other status protected by federal, state or local law,” Burns said.

According to the suit, Gilkey-Shuford worked for Hyundai for 19 years, eventually becoming Director of Administration in 2018. Yet she claims upon assuming the position, she found her responsibilities diminished and was the lowest paid director.

Because of this, the suit states, “a white executive thought it amusing to ‘joke’ that her primary role” during team sessions was to ensure the coffee stayed hot.

Instead, she says she was shut out of several key leadership committees and paid about $15,000 less than the only other director with similar education, who was the head of the legal department.

As outlined in her EEOC claim earlier this year, Gilkey-Shuford contends that she was terminated after a draft memorandum by employees was forwarded to Hyundai’s California executive management team without her knowledge.

The memo dealt with how the plant could better recognize Pride Month, as well as possible changes to company policy regarding name changes for transgender employees.

According to the lawsuit, in defending itself against the EEOC complaint Hyundai argued that Gilkey-Shuford’s elevation to the executive team had been “nothing more than a tactic to counter union organizing at the plant, and that since the union threat had abated, she was expendable.”

“The inference is that the promotion was meant to provide an optical value for HMMA’s manufacturing workforce, which is over 80% African American,” the suit states.

Her attorney, Arthur Davis, said she was fired within days of Hyundai’s California corporate office launching an investigation into complaints by some employees about anti-LBGT policies at the plant, and that management in Montgomery believed Gilkey-Shuford supported and encouraged the complaints.

“This kind of discrimination doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Davis said. “It’s part of a culture of discrimination and prejudice and Ms. Shuford isn’t that culture’s only victim. It’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

Upon her termination, Gilkey-Shuford said she rejected a severance package that would have made her ineligible for rehire at Hyundai or any of its supply or distribution network. The suit called this an “unmistakably punitive condition.”