A federal judge has ruled in favor of Kymberly Aleem Duncan, returning her employment discrimination lawsuit against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and Jeanette Nicole Little to California state court. State Farm had sought to move the case to federal court, claiming that Little, a California-based manager, was fraudulently included as a defendant to defeat federal jurisdiction and have the case heard in employee-friendly California.
Duncan, a former litigation attorney in State Farm’s Pleasanton, California office, filed a lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court alleging racial discrimination, retaliation, and a hostile work environment under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). According to Duncan, she was the only African-American woman among 21 attorneys in her department and faced discrimination from her supervisors, including former managing attorney Philip Anderson and current managing attorney Jeanette Nicole Little.
Duncan alleges that Anderson initially obstructed her promotion, favoring a white male colleague, and later made comments suggesting a newfound openness to hiring people of color. After Little assumed leadership in 2021, Duncan claims she encountered escalating discriminatory actions, including:
