Four residents of the Atlanta-area community Trilith, which is one of the largest studio spaces in the country and also home to a town and living community made up of film professionals, have sued the organization for racial discrimination.
The claims in the lawsuit, obtained by TheWrap and filed on Tuesday, were first voiced in a BuzzFeed News story in July. The lawsuit alleges that Black residents of Trilith were “being stalked, harassed, subjected to intimidation and raised legitimate concerns for the safety of Black residents.”
The suit names Trilith Development LLC, the Townhomes at Trilith Homeowners Association and Trilith Studios. Trilith Studios, formerly Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, is the largest production facility in the state of Georgia and is home to many Disney and Marvel projects.
Two of the plaintiffs, Carmen Key and Keyania Otobor, claim in the suit that in March 2022, another resident shouted at them a racial slur, calling them “f—ing n—s.” Key also claims her additional concerns about a lack of diversity and inclusiveness among Trilith were dismissed, leading to her being prevented from accessing Trilith Studios and perform her work as a vendor. Key says experienced emotional and economic distress from the incident that prevented her from completing a film project she was working on at the time.
“As a direct and proximate result of the Trilith Defendants’ failure to take actions to remedy
the foregoing issues of racial discrimination, Plaintiffs, and other Black residents, have suffered
hurt, inconvenience and damages,” the complaint reads. “In sum, Plaintiffs’ individual and shared experiences demonstrate that Trilith’s mission to be a ‘community where makers, thinkers, and dreamers feel at home,’ is not a mission of inclusivity.”
Other plaintiffs in the suit claim that requests for repairs on their homes were ignored while other white residents had their own requests prioritized, as well as other claims that Black residents were followed by law enforcement on Trilith grounds or that they were subject to discrimination while using community amenities such as the public pool, basketball courts or shared spaces.
Representatives for Trilith did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
However, in a statement in response to the BuzzFeed article from July, a spokesperson for Trilith the town said, “Trilith is a place for everyone, and this story is incomplete, inaccurate and mischaracterizes the mission we devote ourselves to daily in providing a supportive and collaborative place.”