An author who sparked outrage on social media after she tweeted a photo of a D.C. Metro transit employee eating on the job is suing her former publisher for defamation.
Natasha Tynes was “essentially stripped of a book deal, placed on leave from her job and hospitalized for multiple conditions, including suicidal thoughts,” USA Today reported.
Tynes is seeking more than $13 million in damages from publishing company Rare Bird Lit. Inc, according to a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court of California.
A Jordanian immigrant and resident of Washington, D.C., Tynes posted a photo of an African American Metro worker eating on May 13, complaining the employee was violating Metro policy.
Many on social media characterized the complaint as unfair and race-based.
The publishing company took the outrage a step further, calling the incident “horrible” and announced it was canceling a book deal with Tynes.
“Black women face a constant barrage of this kind of inappropriate behavior directed toward them and a constant policing of their bodies,” the company said in a statement.
A word from us on what happened this morning with Natasha Tynes in DC. pic.twitter.com/gJY4lZLFUQ
— Rare Bird (@rarebirdlit) May 11, 2019
Tynes’ lawsuit alleges the statement added fuel to an already out-of-control fire of backlash, attacking her character and making it impossible for her to gain alternative employment.
She received death threats and was forced to leave the country, Tynes’ attorneys allege.
“Natasha Tynes was falsely and maliciously accused of being a racist and of threatening the physical safety of a black woman by a publisher who knew better,” William Moran, her lawyer said in a statement. “I have never seen a publisher throw one of their authors under the bus like this and knowingly destroy their lives on false pretenses.”
