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Woman Who Falsely Accused Black Bird-Watcher Loses Lawsuit Against Ex-Employer

The white woman who falsely told police she was threatened by a Black bird-watcher in New York City’s Central Park has lost a lawsuit accusing her former employer Franklin Templeton of illegally firing her and portraying her as racist.

In a decision on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams rejected Amy Cooper’s claim that she was defamed when Franklin Templeton and its Chief Executive Jenny Johnson referred on three occasions to the incident and said they did not tolerate racism. A video of the incident went viral.

The Manhattan judge also said Cooper failed to prove she was fired in May 2020 because of her race or gender {snip}

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Cooper joined Franklin Templeton in 2015, and was working as an insurance portfolio manager when a May 25, 2020 video showed her appearing agitated after confronting the bird-watcher Christian Cooper, who is not related.

Amy Cooper was shown calling the police and saying “there’s an African-American man threatening my life” after Christian Cooper asked her to leash her dog to comply with park rules.

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