Legal Question in Employment Law in Florida

I believe I may have a discrimination/retaliation issue at work and I would like to know whether it is worth pursuing further. The facts are as follows:

I am an African-American female. On March 30, 2015, a co-worker (lead), who is also an African-American female, and I had a disagreement over a work process which she claimed was being conducted by me incorrectly and unnecessarily. It was later determined during a grievance hearing the co-worker�s statements were inaccurate. During the disagreement, the co-worker began speaking to me in a very condescending tone and became very angry when I asked her to stop. The co-worker stated to me �Why don�t you go home. I don�t want nobody around me acting niggery.� When I refused to leave, the co-worker also threatened me stating �You don�t know who you�re messing with.� The co-worker also began berating me personally stating, �you have deep rooted issues�, �you must have been traumatized�, etc. in reference to my mental stability.

The co-worker reported the incident to our supervisor and HR. On April 2, 2015, both the co-worker and I were interviewed separately by the HR staff. Our supervisor was present during both interviews. Though the co-worker admitted to calling me �niggery� and threatening me, I later learned the co-worker stated during her interview I told her �I am a grown woman and I can tear you up� in the presence of our supervisor. This statement was later included in a reprimand I was given. After I filed a grievance with HR alleging discrimination and retaliation, it was later determined I never made the statement when our supervisor admitted she never heard the statement. The HR staff stated the reason the statement was included in the reprimand I was given was because our supervisor indicated her agreement with the statement during the co-worker�s interview.

I have also been subjected to other forms of retaliation such as re-location of my office, decrease or removal of job duties, referral to EAP counseling, regarded as mentally unstable, violent, un-cooperative, difficult to work with and �causing all the problems�, denial of attendance at work related events, name calling, etc. I believe these actions are discriminatory and were taken in an effort to retaliate against me for statements I made to our supervisor and HR during my participation in the subsequent HR investigations.

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