Elham Asaad Buaras
A senior executive at a large US commercial cleaning company allegedly told staff that mosques were off-limits as potential clients because he did not want to work with Muslims, according to a federal workplace discrimination lawsuit filed on February 12 in Florida state court and later trans-ferred to the US District Court in Jacksonville on April 24.
‘By way of example, when [Creveling] suggested ap-proaching a local mosque as a potential client, an approach consistent with another business devel-opment manager’s practice of soliciting churches, [McDowell] reacted with a strong objection and stated that he would not allow a Muslim client’
The case has been brought by Allison Creveling, a former business development manager at Southern Cleaning Service Inc., who was hired on April 15, 2024, and worked at the company’s Jacksonville office.
She alleges that Regional Vice President of Operations David McDowell re-jected a proposal to approach a local mosque as a potential client while supporting outreach to Christian churches.
The complaint states: “By way of example, when [Creveling] suggested ap-proaching a local mosque as a potential client, an approach consistent with another business devel-opment manager’s practice of soliciting churches, [McDowell] reacted with a strong objection and stated that he would not allow a Muslim client.”
However, the mosque-related allegation is only one part of a wider set of claims set out in the law-suit.
The complaint centres on alleged workplace discrimination, harassment and retaliation across multiple grounds, including race, gender and religion, as well as what Creveling describes as a hos-tile working environment.
The lawsuit alleges a broader culture that was “openly hostile” towards Muslims, minorities and women, and “infused with inappropriate political and religious messaging”.
It further claims that Donald Trump paraphernalia was displayed in the Jacksonville office and that employees who ex-pressed opposing political views were “disparaged or marginalized”, contributing to an environ-ment where dissenting views were allegedly discouraged. Beyond religious discrimination, the complaint also details allegations of racial and gender-based misconduct.
It claims a black colleague was subjected to “overt racial discrimination” and that management fostered internal conflict between staff members. Creveling also alleges she was told her clothing was “not ladylike” compared with male colleagues and that she was told to “go get a sugar daddy” after offering criticism in a meeting.
The filing includes further serious allegations, including claims that a manager mocked a black em-ployee by shaping a noose from a scarf and that another employee’s Parkinson’s disease was ridi-culed in front of colleagues.
Creveling says she raised concerns with senior leadership in early April 2025 and was subsequent-ly terminated on April 11 2025, one day after submitting a formal complaint email.
Although HR reportedly told her she was not dismissed for cause, she later alleges the company informed a for-mer client she had been fired for “poor performance”, which she describes as defamatory and retal-iatory. Southern Cleaning
Service Inc., based in Alabama and founded in 1983, denies all allegations.
In its legal response filed last week, the company said it had made “good-faith efforts” to prevent dis-crimination and argued that the disputed remarks are protected under free speech rights. The case remains ongoing in federal court in Jacksonville, with Creveling seeking compensatory and puni-tive damages along with legal costs.
