NORFOLK, Va. — Hampton’s chief public defender is facing a federal lawsuit from former criminal defense investigator Keshie Wyche, claiming he violated her civil rights.

Wyche said she feels as if the chief public defender, Matthew Johnson, treated her like an “angry Black woman” according to court documents. This has her suing the chief public defender on four counts in federal court: discrimination based on race and sex, disparate impact, retaliation and a violation of equal rights.

Wyche politely declined to comment with 10 On Your Side, but opted to have us speak with her attorney, Manolita Holidia. She is a partner at Joynes and Gaidies, based in Virginia Beach. Holidia described Wyche as having years of experience doing security clearance work for the federal government and ran her own private investigation firm. She got an opportunity to join the Hampton public defenders office in 2019.

The complaint in court claims that not long after, Wyche was blamed for work that a White co-worker was responsible for.

“Now if it ended there, maybe we wouldn’t be sitting here today,” Holidia said. “But it escalated, there was microaggression, there was targeting. At one point, I believe this comment was that it was alarming, her behavior. And it all gave off this appearance that she was an angry Black woman walking around the office.”

The suit says Johnson complained about Wyche having an attitude, that she was hard to approach and would not go out to drink with her co-workers or socialize. The complaint adds that Wyche felt like Johnson was trying to get rid of her.

Holidia said they plan on using screenshots from Slack, a messaging service made for workplaces, as evidence. The attorneys tell 10 On Your Side that Wyche brought up her concerns at work and was told to set up a meeting with human resources. Right after she told Johnson about the human resources meeting, he fired her.

“It takes away the fact that you’re a human being,” Holidia said. “It really does, it takes away your very nature. Her spirit, her love of life was definitely affected.”

Wyche hopes the lawsuit will help other people like her feel safe at work, especially people who work in her field.

10 On Your Side reached out to Matthew Johnson more than 24 hours before airing this story, attempting to contact him through his office staff multiple times, as well as contacting him through his cell and email. We have yet to hear back from Johnson.