Woman Sues Company Who Sacked Her For Calling Cops On Black Birdwatcher

A white woman who went viral last year for alleging a Black birdwatcher threatened her in New York's Central Park has sued her former employer for dismissing her following the incident.

Amy Cooper accused the financial advisory company Franklin Templeton of not investigating before her firing because of her race and gender, The Associated Press said Thursday.

In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court Cooper said the company's actions caused her "severe emotional distress" and that she was "suicidal."

Cooper alleges racism wasn't involved in her calling. She was frightened and alone and being "aggressively" confronted and that Templeton would have known that with an investigation.

Cooper is seeking unspecified damages for race and gender discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and negligence, according to Reuters.

The confrontation between her and the man, Christian Cooper, who is not related, started over her dog being unleashed in an area of the park where that was not allowed.

Christian posted a video of the interaction on Facebook that has been viewed 45 million times.

"I'm going to tell them there's an African American man threatening my life," she said in the video, while Christian Cooper can be heard telling her the area requires dogs to be leashed.

Melody Cooper, Christian's sister, commented on the encounter on Twitter.

Templeton terminated Amy Cooper the following day and she was later charged with filing a false police report, according to The Guardian.