Who Is Emily Callen? Planned Parenthood Workers Accuse Head Of Touting Racist Stereotypes

Planned Parenthood’s Pennsylvania director has resigned after more than 900 employees signed a letter accusing her of racism and chronic mismanagement.

Emily Callen, a 30-year-old white woman, had served as director for less than a year, signing on in March, according to the Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

The letter, published on Nov. 25 by a group called “Save Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates,” lists 15 specific issues along with several broader accusations. Callen resigned Tuesday night, the Daily Mail reports.

Some of the most shocking allegations, especially given Planned Parenthood's prominent position within Democratic political efforts in the state, are those of racial bias and insensitivity, including:

• Calling immigrants "illegals"
• “Tokenizing” people of color by referring to their race in situations where it has no bearing
• “Belittling and dismissing” the only person of color in a senior position when she brought up issues of racism
• Permitting open racism by a board member
• Repeating racist stereotypes
• “Sympathizing” with a white supremacist who was threatening an employee and their family
• Allowing a communications director who does not speak Spanish to translate materials, with predictably poor results

Other issues included a young Black organizer who had performed well was be cut, supposedly due to budget constraints, as three regional field directors had to compete for a single position. Meanwhile, the previously temporary position of communications director that had received primarily white applicants was be made permanent despite the supposed budget shortfalls.

Staff overwhelmingly advised against these changes, telling Callen to wait and consult with her team. They were willing to take temporary cuts to preserve the jobs of their coworkers, but Callen apparently ignored them.

The letter compares her response to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which prompted an immediate team-wide email and fundraising appeal, to the death of George Floyd, which received a letter of solidarity only after a week of staff pressure. Other victims of police violence allegedly received similar treatment.

Among the social biases are a variety of business mishandlings. Callen allegedly oversaw wage stagnation and called employees during their time off. Her term began right as Pennsylvania went on lockdown but she refused to pay for the basic necessities of at-home work, such as internet connections. As Pennsylvania’s economy shuddered, Callen apparently refused to even consider taking a temporary cut to her $110,000 salary as other less wealthy workers were let go, the letter claimed.

Callen declined to comment when reached out to by the Capital-Star, referring instead to a response letter from the board. In that letter, the board promised to “immediately launch a deep examination” of the allegations and reaffirmed its “commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion work.”