LAKE CHARLES, La. – A Louisiana nurse practitioner, who also is a practicing member of the Messianic Jewish faith, has filed a lawsuit against her former employer for alleged “unlawful employment practices,” including racial and religious discrimination.
Plaintiff Allissa Joseph filed her lawsuit March 3 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Lake Charles Division.
Joseph, a Black female, claims that defendants Allen Parish Hospital Service District Number 3 doing business as Allen Parish Community Healthcare, or APCH, and Jennifer Lathram and Jacqueline Costly-Reviel violated the federal Civil Rights Act and Louisiana’s Employment Discrimination Law.
“The defendants’ actions outlined above, including but not limited to resisting the plaintiff’s PTO requests, surveilling her, accusing her of criminal conduct, and initiating pretextual audits and investigations, were because of her race, closely held religious beliefs, and in retaliation for her complaints about the defendants’ discriminatory and harassing activities,” her 16-page complaint states.
Joseph was employed by APCH as a nurse practitioner. As a practicing Messianic Jew, she observes all Jewish holidays and customs, including Jewish holy days.
“When the plaintiff was hired, she informed her prior supervisor of her closely held religious beliefs and the necessity of workplace accommodations to observe all Jewish holidays and customs, including, but not limited to, Jewish holy days, which were initially accommodated and scheduled months in advance,” the complaint states.
She noted in her filing that, to assist APCH, she arranged and coordinated one to six months in advance of Jewish holy days with co-workers and supervisors to cover her shifts.
However, things changed when she began working for a new supervisor, Lathram, in October 2024.
Almost immediately, Lathram allegedly told Joseph she planned to contact Costly-Reviel, APCH’s CEO, due to a “pattern of behavior of absences,” even accusing Joseph of “abandoning her duties.”
Joseph claims she reported this “intentional bias” to Human Resources personnel, but her concerns were ignored.
In April 2025, Joseph was transferred to a newly-opened facility operated by APCH. She alleges the facility was “far less desirable, with less patient traffic and fewer available support staff.”
She also alleges that Lathram enlisted a receptionist, Yolande Parker, to surveil her behavior “for purposes of establishing pretextual reasons to discipline and/or terminate the plaintiff.”
“These surveillance efforts were directed solely at the Plaintiff, not her white or non-religious/practitioners of other faith co-employees,” Joseph claims in her filing.
Joseph claims she also discovered, in September 2025, that the defendants falsely alleged she was stealing patient samples and medication from the clinic without evidence – with the intent of disciplining her and/or terminating her employment.
After almost a year of “continuous pretextual investigations, surveillance, unfair treatment, and repeated failure to properly accommodate” her religious holidays by Lathram, Joseph submitted a protected complaint to Costly-Reviel for race-based and religious discrimination on Oct. 5, 2025.
Joseph claims Costly-Reviel, in response, “feigned ignorance.” And Lathram allegedly responded to the complaint with a threatening email, “flippantly claiming she did not have time for it.”
The pretextual and “sham” investigations and audits into her work continued until Jan. 12, 2026 when the alleged discrimination and retaliation forced Joseph to resign, according to her complaint.
But even her resignation became a source of conflict, she alleges.
“Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff received a Mutual Termination of Employment Agreement purporting to terminate the employment relationship solely,” the filing states. “However, hidden within this agreement was an attempt to trick the plaintiff into settling her claims and forthcoming lawsuit.”
Joseph alleges she observed the issue and refused to sign away her rights, but Costly-Reviel and APCH employees “repeatedly” contacted her, pressuring her to execute the agreement – even threatening that it was illegal for her to refuse.
“These communications continued despite the undersigned counsel’s issuance of a litigation hold and a letter of representation requesting that all communications go through the undersigned counsel,” the complaint states.
Joseph seeks compensatory, punitive, exemplary, legal, equitable, and nominal damages, and attorneys’ fees.
She also seeks an injunction enjoining APCH from continuing to defame her by publishing false criminal accusations.
Ducote Law Firm LLC in Lake Charles is representing Joseph in the lawsuit.
