Lawsuit Alleges Cleveland Heights Underpaid, Discriminated Against Black Employee

Cleveland Heights, fresh off of a complaint of alleged antisemitism at City Hall, is dealing with another lawsuit with racial undertones.

According to a complaint filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, the city allegedly discriminated against Earline Robinson, a Black woman in her sixties living in Richmond Heights, in various capacities since she started working as an income tax clerk for City Hall in the 1980s.

Robinson took higher level roles—from tax clerk to accounting clerk—with differing levels of pay increase or “no increase” at all, her attorney, Lawrence Mays, claims in the suit.

“During her employment, Ms. Robinson was paid less than younger white Accounts Payable employees who had less responsibilities and less years of service,” the complaint, dated March 10, reads.

Despite being “one of the best staff in Accounts Payroll,” Robinson “was the lowest paid employee in her department.”

The only complaint against Robinson? Only after Robinson made a fuss to HR about her pay, in 2023, the suit says.

Such allegations come in the midst of a recall campaign determined to oust Mayor Kahlil Seren from office before the November election, and as the city handles another civil rights complaint alleging that Seren and his wife Natalie McDaniel used antisemitic comments in meetings and text threads throughout the past year.

Last month, Seren denied any racist comments were made—labeling them “false accusations and mischaracterizations”—in a video statement recorded from his home in Cleveland Heights. The saga came to a head at a May 23 emergency Council meeting, in which Council President Tony Cuda questioned the capacity of Seren to still lead.

Seren responded with defiance. “I just want to say this Council by no means is my overseer,” he said. “And I am not your negro.”

Robinson, through her attorney, is claiming that Cleveland Heights violated two civil rights-related sections of Ohio Law, and that the city discriminated against her based on her race and age.

Robinson is also claiming Cleveland Heights broke state law when bad marks appeared on her record following her 2023 complaint.

This March, former performance coordinator Andrea Heim was put on leave via email by Seren some weeks after she vented to HR about feeling “unsafe” following an in-office outburst by McDaniel in December.

Mays, when reached for comment by Scene, declined to say how exactly Seren’s government was involved in claims of retaliation. “The client hasn’t authorized me to speak,” he said. “The complaint serves as the comment.”

An attorney on behalf of the city denied the vast majority of Robinson’s allegations in her complaint, in a response April 7, claiming that a bulk of her claims are “barred” based on a statute of limitations.

Her complaints of discrimination also, the response reads, “were not properly presented to the City of Cleveland Heights,” and therefore allegedly moot.

Robinson’s original complaint is below.

This article appears in May 22 – Jun 4, 2025.