Everytown for Gun Safety's recent decision to move into the gun training world has been met with criticism from activists involved with the organization (as well as from real "gun safety" advocates), with one activist complaining that the group uses "survivors as props" and wondering "if the name 'Everytown for Gun Safety' is really just a hedge for weapons training.
Now Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun organization is facing a lawsuit from a former employee; not over its decision to offer would-be gun owners an online course full of gun control talking points, but for alleged discrimination based on race and age.
FPC's Rob Romano flagged the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday afternoon in a federal court in North Carolina.
— Rob Romano (@2Aupdates) October 29, 2025
The complaint, filed by a former staffer named Adrienne J. Johnson, alleges that while serving as the Organizing Manager in the Southern Region for North Carolina and Arkansas, she was subjected to "racist microaggressions in North Carolina, retaliatory volunteer conduct in North Carolina, and lack of support from leadership."
Johnson, who first filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that she says was improperly dismissed for a lack of timeliness, alleges that she experienced a "change in treatment after complaining to her Supervisor Brandon Rhodes, a Black man, about his friend and Supervisor, Kenneth Gonzales" for violating the group's code of conduct's rules about harassment and non-retaliation.
Brandon developed a leadership style by overcompensating to prove his merit to volunteers and his Supervisor-Friend, Kenneth Gonzales at Plaintiff's expense. It included upholding White superiority at her expense by debilitatingly micromanaging her, comparing her to White members of other teams, and referring to select group of White volunteers as "key" Leads, the same Leads who were bullying her.
Johnson goes to allege that the harassment continued, but her complaints to leadership went unaddressed.
On September 3, 2024, Plaintiff made a concerted effort to meet with Angela Ferrell Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action via her Chief of Staff to discuss overt discriminatory and retaliatory treatment from a member of the Executive Management Team, racist volunteers, tone-deafness of HR and management team, and the silencing of her voice ( and others) while being treated differently as a Black woman OM of NC. This sentiment was documented by several of Plaintiff's colleagues. Scheduling conflicts precluded them from meeting. However, similar conversations were shared in 2023 and were always productive and welcomed by her.
The following month Johnson was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), and though she says she successfully completed it she was terminated on November 14, 2024.
Johnson's lawsuit alleges that, in addition to the racial harassment she was subjected to by white Everytown volunteers, she was "denied leadership opportunities" and ultimately terminated based on an "inability to keep up with the team," which she argues was an age-based act of discrimination.
Now, these are only allegations, and I have no idea how much truth is contained in Johnson's lawsuit. It's also worth noting that Johnson filed the lawsuit herself with no attorney listed. If I were planning on taking on a group as well-funded as Everytown I'd want to have a lawyer working with me on my case, but that's just me.
If what she's saying is accurate, though, Everytown for Gun Safety seems to have a problem with "racist volunteers" and perhaps even leadership as well. I'm sure Everytown will deny every one of Johnson's allegations, but I'm curious to see what emerges in discovery... if the lawsuit gets that far.
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