Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – Orange Beach has agreed to settlements in two sexual discrimination lawsuits filed by former employees alleging they were discriminated against because they are gay.

Chase Morrisette was the first to file in December of 2022 and included as plaintiffs Morrisette, Deann Milly and Lacy McFadden. According to the filing, both were witnesses to the use of slurs and questions about Morrisette’s private life and felt the incidents made them uncomfortable at their jobs. Neither of the three are still city employees.

At the March 5 council regular session meeting, the city agreed to pay $173,333 to settle Morrisette’s lawsuit. 

Recreation Department employee Laura Davis filed a similar suit in September of 2023 alleging an anti-gay bias and that she was told by a former city administrator “I wouldn’t have hired you if I’d known you were gay.”

She also alleged American with Disabilities Act violations because the city didn’t make accommodations because of her disability that would have allowed her to continue to perform her duties. The city council approved the settlement in her case, Orange Beach will pay $126,000 to settle her lawsuit.

A central figure in both cases, former Recreation Director Jonathan Langston, no longer works for the city. Both suits alleged Langston had a running verbal campaign with both Morrisette and Davis that included gay slurs, comments about sexual orientation and gay sex.

Davis eventually went on family medical leave because “the intolerably hostile work environment to which Ms. Davis was being subjected was taking a considerable toll on Ms. Davis’s mental health.” 

“At the conclusion of her FMLA leave, Ms. Davis’s doctor would not clear her to return to the intolerably hostile working conditions that necessitated her leave,” the filing states.

The suit alleges after the city refused to extend her leave, she resigned on June 25, 2021.

Morrisette’s suit claims he was subjected to slurs about his sexual orientation by Jonathan Langston and his wife, Jessica Langston. Morrisette was terminated on Feb. 15, 2021, after he requested a meeting with Mayor Tony Kennon that was never scheduled, according to the filing. Another request to meet with Kennon and Human Resources Director Vicki Pishner after his termination was not answered, the filing states.