Amy Cooper, who falsely called 911 on a Black bird watcher in Central Park, is suing her former employer for firing her

• Amy Cooper, who falsely called 911 on Black birdwatcher Christian Cooper in Central Park last year, is suing Franklin Templeton.
• She says the company fired her without investigating and falsely portrayed her as racist.
• She is seeking unspecified damages for race and gender discrimination, defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence.
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – The white woman who falsely told the police that a Black bird-watcher had threatened her in New York City's Central Park has sued her former employer Franklin Templeton, claiming it fired her without investigating the incident and falsely portrayed her as racist.

In a complaint filed on Tuesday night in Manhattan federal court, Amy Cooper said Franklin Templeton's actions "caused her such severe emotional distress that she was suicidal."

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

Franklin Templeton, part of Franklin Resources Inc, did not immediately respond on Wednesday to requests for comment.

Cooper's May 25, 2020 dispute with the bird-watcher Christian Cooper, who is not related to her, drew wide attention after a video surfaced of her calling the police and saying "there's an African-American man threatening my life."

She had made the call after Christian Cooper asked her to put her dog on a leash.

Franklin Templeton fired Cooper the next day. The video has been seen on Twitter more than 45 million times.

Amy Cooper was charged by Manhattan prosecutors last July with filing a false police report, but the misdemeanor charge was dismissed after she completed a therapy program that included instruction on not using racial bias.

Christian Cooper, who recorded the confrontation on his phone, has spoken out against the charges against Amy Cooper, calling it a "mistake to focus on this one individual" in an op-ed for the Washington Post

"The important thing the incident highlights is the long-standing, deep-seated racial bias against us black and brown folk that permeates the United States," Christian Cooper wrote. "Focusing on charging Amy Cooper lets white people off the hook from all that."