Lawsuit alleges gender, age and race discrimination at Department of Commerce
Late last year, a former lead recruiter in Washington’s Department of Commerce sued the agency, citing allegations such as retaliation, discrimination and a hostile work environment.
Now Commerce is facing another lawsuit over similar claims.
In the legal challenge filed May 4 in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, three plaintiffs who worked at Commerce in human resources alleged witnessing and experiencing discrimination based on race, gender and age.
As in the previous legal case, two former Commerce employees were also named as defendants: Theresa Burkheimer and Lauren Watts, who served as the department’s chief human resources officer and deputy HR director, respectively.
Tacoma attorney Richard H. Wooster is again acting as the plaintiffs’ lawyer, this time representing Amanda L. Davis, Catherine M. George and Nicole Rivera.
In an emailed statement, Wooster said that all three women counted years of experience in their field.
“Unfortunately, top management in (the) Department of Commerce resented their independent voices and sought to force them out to silence them and send a message to other staff not to speak out about questionable practices,” he said.
A Department of Commerce spokesperson told McClatchy in an email that the agency doesn’t comment on pending litigation.
An attorney for Watts and Burkheimer similarly said she would not comment on pending litigation.
Messages sent to Watts’ and Burkheimer’s former Commerce email addresses bounced back. In each case, the automatic reply said that they no longer worked at the agency as of March.
What does the Commerce lawsuit allege?
Davis, George and Rivera are all over the age of 40, the new lawsuit says. The complaint alleges that the defendants treated white male HR employees differently than women and minority workers, who were more heavily scrutinized — and that employees who were mistreated were older.
In one example, the lawsuit alleges, Watts mocked Davis, who is Asian, in a September 2025 meeting by “squinting her eyes” and acting as though she were Asian. Although Davis notified Burkheimer of this behavior, which she found to be highly offensive, no action was taken to her knowledge, according to the lawsuit.
Over time, alleged repeated mistreatment and the agency’s broader hostile work environment harmed Davis’ health, including her mental and physical well-being, the complaint asserts.
She ultimately accepted a lower-level role at a different state agency, contributing to economic losses, according to the suit.
George alleges that she experienced discrimination and that Watts bullied other employees, the lawsuit says. She feared retaliation after raising concerns about discrimination directly to Watts, and Watts placed George on a performance improvement plan in October 2023, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit says that George was ridiculed and humiliated in Housing Department monthly management meetings, during which another Commerce higher-up who was friends with Watts asked George nuanced and challenging questions while ignoring others who were present.
George, who was dismissed from her role in September, alleges reasons for her firing include her opposition to the defendants’ discrimination and leave she took under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
In addition, the complaint states that Rivera endured retaliation, harassment and discriminatory treatment, too, for opposing the defendants’ actions, including “exclusion from meetings and communications required to perform her job.”
After serving as a witness in an investigation into the defendants’ purported discriminatory conduct, Rivera was placed under investigation herself by Burkheimer in April 2025, per the suit. Rivera alleges this move was retaliatory, and that Burkheimer and Watts used the internal probe process to target workers for reporting their alleged wrongdoing.
The plaintiffs’ allegations include wrongful termination, mishandling of public records requests, constitutional rights violations and retaliation for using FMLA leave.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and relief such as training for the defendants.
A tort claim filed as a precursor to the lawsuit shows that George sought $2.5 million in lieu of being reinstated with back pay. McClatchy requested the other two plaintiffs’ tort claims from Wooster’s office, too, but did not immediately receive that documentation.
Wooster said he hopes that the change in top HR managers at Commerce will help the department prioritize recruiting the most qualified workers and “ensuring employees get the protections and benefits of best personnel practices.”
“A good Human Resources department is like Switzerland,” he continued, “generally supporting management but with the courage to tell managers that they are taking inappropriate actions.”
As of the evening of May 21, the chief human resources officer role is listed as “vacant” under the executive leadership section of Commerce’s website.
This story was originally published May 26, 2026 at 5:15 AM with the headline "Lawsuit alleges gender, age and race discrimination at Department of Commerce."
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