A Black woman has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Maplewood Ultrasound Total Sono after she says a technician called her unborn child a “monkey” earlier this month.
According to a report in the New Jersey Law Journal, Nicole Duncan of Newark went to the clinic for a diagnostic test when the technician allegedly uttered the racial slur.
When Duncan complained, she said the white technician told her the word was a “silly colloquialism.” The company had refused to apologize.
“‘Monkey’ is a shockingly hateful and racist epithet used to dehumanize Blacks for centuries,” the suit said. [The technician] should be well aware of the deeply derogatory meaning of the term ‘monkey,’ particularly as it has been prominent in the national media for the past several years.”
Duncan said she is suing for discrimination, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and is seeking punitive damages.
Total Sono has not responded to the media about the incident.