Woman Diagnosed with PTSD After Work ‘Incident’ Involving Chucky Doll: Lawsuit

Debra Jones, a banker at Truist Bank in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, filed a complaint against the company last month, citing discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Per the lawsuit, Jones has a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and autoimmune disorder vitiligo, something she said the company knew.

In the docs, shared in full by WBTV 3, Jones claims that in June 2024 her manager “placed a Chucky doll – the doll that kills people” in her office chair. The move, per the suit, not only “interfered with” Jones’ training, but also “caused harm to [Jones] disabilities, worsened her medical condition and caused [Jones] to seek immediate medical attention.”

Jones claims the manager “laughed when he saw [Jones] reaction to the Chucky doll,” before saying that the manager “was aware of her disabilities” prior to the incident and was also “aware of her fear of dolls and how her fear of dolls negatively affected her disabilities.” Jones said she told the manager this “when he had invited [Jones] to his home for a team cookout.”

The woman said she was “treated by her medical provider on the same day of the Chucky doll incident,” before she was then put on 8-week medical leave “to treat her disabilities.” She also claimed “she was newly diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (‘PTSD’) after the Chucky doll incident.”

When she later returned to work, she said she received an accommodation to leave work early three times a week for autoimmune disorder treatment — claiming the treatment “was for flare ups that started as a result of the Chucky doll incident.”

Upon her return, a new manager was allegedly assigned to her, but she claims the discriminatory treatment continued. She claimed she was “treated different than her coworkers when she made mistakes,” believing “she was subjected to disparate treatment based on her disabilities.”

Jones also said the new manager would discuss her “approved reasonable accommodations with the team” — and claimed another manager told her that her early exits for treatment were “affecting [Jones’] coworkers because they also needed time off.” The docs claim the manager then told her they didn’t believe “this job was the right fit” and that Jones “cannot keep using her anxiety and emotional problems as an excuse.” Jones said she was given one month to “improve” … but she again “suffered several panic attacks as a result of the meetings” with management.

Jones said that after meeting with her medical provider, she was “taken out of work for treatment of her disabilities.” Per the docs, she was later told by management to “come get her personal belongings” from the office.

As a result of the alleged behavior, she said she suffered “severe emotional distress” and will “continue to suffer emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, embarrassment [and] mental anguish.” She’s seeking compensatory damages.

Truist Bank has not yet commented on the suit.