Employee sues Pleasanton construction company after allegedly receiving racist gift

PLEASANTON, Calif. (KGO) -- The owners of a Pleasanton construction company, a husband and wife, are under fire for allegedly giving an African-American employee a Confederate flag purse as a holiday gift.[br /][br /]That employee has now filed a race discrimination and harassment lawsuit against [url HREF="http://southlandcm.com/home.cms" TARGET="" REL=""]Southland Construction[/url].[br /][Ads /][br /]Tishay Wright said it was the last straw -- a racist package she believes was retaliation for her speaking up about prior incidents. "This is not a joke. This is very serious," she said.[br /][br /]The holiday gift from her boss was a rhinestone purse with a Confederate flag on it. And inside, photos of her boss and his wife dressed in Donald Trump attire with more Confederate memorabilia behind them.[br /][br /][twitter ID="872933252767432705" /][br /]"It made me sick to my stomach," Wright said. "And I felt like dirt, like he considered me to be less of a human."[br /][br /]Photos show Southland owner Kenneth Hayden and his wife Anita. They appear to have been taken inside an office cubicle.[br /][br /]"I've never dealt with something that was so offensive, where someone was so proud to inflict an injury message on another person," Wright's attorney, Christopher Dolan, said.[br /][Ads /][br /]Wright worked as a project administrator at Southland for a year and a half. She says there were other incidents, including a few weeks before the Christmas part, when she and a Latina coworker were called into Hayden's office.[br /][br /]"And he told us that we were his b-- and we needed to take notes on the projects we were going to be discussing," Wright said.[br /][br /][twitter ID="872914551691329536" /][br /]ABC7 News reached out to the Haydens at their Pleasanton office, also by email and phone, with no reply.[br /][br /]The company website does state its core values: "Southland Construction seeks to serve our customers, vendors and employees as we serve the Lord Jesus Christ by displaying honesty... integrity... loyalty, respect for others and ourselves."[br /][br /]"They portrayed to be Christians. I am a Christian, so for them to do something like that to someone, it says a lot about their character," Wright said.[br /][Ads /][br /]Wright's lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for discrimination, emotional distress and wrongful termination. [url HREF="http://dig.abclocal.go.com/kgo/PDF/Endorsed_Complaint_wright_v_southland.pdf[br /]" TARGET="" REL=""]Click here to read the full complaint.[/url][br /][br /][twitter ID="872913121727266816" /]