Former HR manager files suit against Reedy Creek

Criticizing a colleague is blamed for her firing

Reedy Creek’s former human resources manager who was terminated in January has filed a lawsuit against Walt Disney World’s government.

Tracy Schrey is seeking more than $15,000 in damages in her suit filed last month in Orange Circuit Court, saying she was unjustly fired.

The Reedy Creek Improvement District is the Disney-controlled government that provides road construction, first-responders and infrastructure for Disney’s theme parks and resorts.

In her lawsuit, Schrey says she recommended in March 2017 to fire Yenni Hernandez, Reedy Creek’s chief information officer who runs the technology department.

“Among [the] reasons cited by Ms. Schrey for the recommendation were ongoing employee complaints about Hernandez; lack of leadership of Hernandez; poor working relationships of Hernandez with managers in other departments; and not an ambassador for the District,” the lawsuit said.

A few months later, Reedy Creek hired a consultant who wrote a scathing report, criticizing the culture in the technology department. The report said Hernandez “is viewed as a ‘bully’” and has created a working environment where employees feared reprisal for speaking out.

However, Hernandez kept her job, the lawsuit said.

Schrey said she later received an angry response when she told the Reedy Creek administration that Hernandez committed age discrimination against a job applicant. Later that fall, Schrey complained Hernandez did not follow the collective-bargaining rules about holiday pay.

Schrey was later fired in January 2018 and offered a severance agreement of $22,336, according to documents provided earlier by Reedy Creek, which said she was fired for unsatisfactory performance.

However, Schrey refused to sign the agreement.

Schrey, who was paid $145,184 a year, said she had received a strong performance preview during her time at Reedy Creek and won praise from administrators before her complaints against Hernandez.

As a result of her firing, “Ms. Schrey has suffered loss of wages and benefits, humiliation, stress, out-of-pocket losses, and inconvenience,” the lawsuit said.

Reedy Creek was not immediately available for comment. Schrey’s attorney declined to comment Wednesday.

Tracy Schrey is seeking more than $15,000 in damages, saying she was unjustly fired.