A 26-year employee raised concerns — what allegedly came next could alarm HR leaders.
After decades of consistent performance, Catherine H. Costict, a Black woman and Senior Litigation Counsel at Allstate since 1999, has held the same role since 2008 despite receiving top client satisfaction ratings, the Silver Medal Award in 2012, and the Distinguished Performance Award in 2014 — the highest honor given to any attorney in her region.
Between 2016 and 2024, she applied for multiple advancement roles, including Lead Counsel positions in Atlanta and a Corporate Litigation Counsel post. Each time, she was denied. Allstate selected white and/or male attorneys who, according to her lawsuit, had less experience and shorter tenure.
In 2023, Costict escalated her concerns to company management and human resources, alleging she was being overlooked due to her race and sex. What followed, she claims, were a series of adverse employment actions.
In 2024, she received a 0% merit increase — the first in her 26-year career. That same year, Allstate attempted to place her on a performance improvement plan, which she formally protested as retaliatory. Then, in July 2024, just two weeks before the National Bar Association’s annual convention, the company removed her from her role as Relationship Manager to the organization — a position she had held and one with clear external visibility.
Costict filed a federal lawsuit on April 6, 2026, alleging racial and sex discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and Tennessee state law. She is seeking back pay, front pay, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees across six counts. A jury trial has been demanded.
The case also highlights a structural disparity: while most attorneys in her region are Black women, the regional leadership team includes none. It consists of three white men, two white women, and one Black man.
The regional attorney team is predominantly Black women, but the regional leadership includes no Black women, consisting instead of three white men, two white women, and one Black man.