Mar 10, 2026
On March 10, 2026, Justly Prudent filed a lawsuit on behalf of Sofia Franco, a Latina woman who worked as a Paralegal Supervisor for Prince George's County Government. The lawsuit says her supervisor targeted her because of her ethnicity and the county did nothing to stop it.
Ms. Franco started working for the county in January 2023. She was the only Hispanic employee in her section. According to the lawsuit, her supervisor, Michelle Lyons, called her "the new Spanish bitch on the 5th floor" and said she was "trying to get all the Black people fired." Lyons also reportedly made repeated comments about ICE raids and immigration enforcement in front of Ms. Franco, told her that her cleaning lady "got deported because she's Latina," and warned her to "be careful."
The lawsuit says Lyons did more than hurl insults. She took away Ms. Franco's key job duties and gave them to a coworker who was not trained as a paralegal. She blocked Ms. Franco from using the county's mobile timekeeping system while letting that same coworker keep full access. She banned Ms. Franco from contacting the county attorney's office, even though that communication was a central part of Ms. Franco's job.
Ms. Franco reported the problem to multiple supervisors and HR officials over the course of two years, according to the lawsuit. One HR supervisor reportedly told her that a formal complaint would "go up to OHRM and then get lost." When Ms. Franco finally filed a formal discrimination complaint in December 2025, the lawsuit says the county's own investigator made discriminatory remarks during the intake meeting.
Twenty-seven days after filing that complaint, the county transferred Ms. Franco out of her paralegal role and into a department where she now reviews construction applications. The lawsuit says her supervisor moved her belongings without telling her and told her new coworkers that she was "lazy" and "needed to be watched." The county changed her job description to remove all paralegal work while keeping her title the same—a move her new supervisor said he was told to make by HR.
The lawsuit brings claims under multiple federal, state, and local civil rights laws and seeks damages, reinstatement, and institutional reforms.
For more information, read the official press release at: https://www.justlyprudent.com/press-releases/latina-paralegal-files-race-discrimination-lawsuit-against-prince-georges-county