Jordanian-American author Natasha Tynes is suing book publisher Rare Bird Lit Inc. for more than $13 million in damages, alleging the company defamed her and breached a publishing contract amid a social media shaming scandal in May.

The incident left Tynes essentially stripped of a book deal, placed on leave from her job and hospitalized for multiple conditions, including suicidal thoughts, a lawsuit filed this week in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles alleges.

A Sunday statement from David S. Eisen, an attorney representing Rare Bird Books, calls Tynes' lawsuit "baseless" and pledges to fight the litigation. Counsel for Rare Birds Books and Tynes have provided conflicting accounts of Tynes' publishing contract.

Tynes made national and international headlines in May and was widely accused of racism after she tweeted and then deleted a photo of a black D.C. Metro transit employee eating on the train, which isagainst Metro's policy.

Many on social media perceived Tynes' actions as an unwarranted tattletale attack on a person of color, a position echoed by Rare Bird in a tweet announcing its intention to back out of its role in Tynes' upcoming novel, "They Called Me Wyatt."

That statement paved the way for widespread media attention that ruined Tynes' reputation, the lawsuit claims.

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Tynes' lawsuit outlines her position: That Rare Bird, "an all-white company," inaccurately painted her, an "immigrant woman of color," as racist and benefited off the public backlash.

Eisen says Tynes has simply suffered the consequences of her tweet: "It is ironic that, having taken advantage of her First Amendment rights with an ill-advised tweet, Ms. Tynes now seeks to stifle and punish use of those very same rights of a respected book publisher who legitimately expressed its opinions of her conduct, rather than take responsibility for her own actions."

The quickly inaccessible tweet that started the controversy was published in a Washington Post report. It included a picture of a Metro worker and read in part: "I thought we were not allowed to eat on the train. This is unacceptable. Hope @wmata responds. When I asked the employee about this, her response was 'worry about yourself.'"

Tynes' lawsuit contends that context shows she had no racist motivations.

"Natasha has spoken out about the scourge of racism and bigotry and has been subjected to racism over the years as a result of her Jordanian heritage and her prominent accent," the lawsuit says.

She is an award-winning author, a mother and an activist who has faced government prosecution in Egypt for her work in defense of "free speech and a free press," the lawsuit says.

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Tynes "promptly deleted the tweet" and made attempts to ensure the employee pictured would not face repercussions, the lawsuit says. She did not believe the employee was identifiable in the photo and also thought no "employment action could ever be taken against a union transit worker for such a minor incident."

The lawsuit contends that initially a representative from Rare Bird did not object to her explanation: "Having not grown up in the United States, the issue of race had not even occurred" to Tynes.

But a later public statement on Twitter by Rare Bird described her actions as "truly horrible" and said "black women face a constant barrage of this kind of inappropriate behavior directed toward them and a constant policing of their bodies."

The lawsuit says Tynes faced death threats and harassment on social media and – fearing for her safety – temporarily left the country. Meanwhile, Rare Bird enjoyed mostly positive reactions on social media and gained valuable public exposure, the lawsuit contends.

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While Tynes was "hospitalized with chest pain, highly elevated blood pressure, hyperventilation, shakiness and suicidal ideations," Rare Bird representatives repeatedly made contact with her and her family regarding their intent to distance themselves from the planned publication of her upcoming book, the lawsuit says.

Eisen's full statement reads:

The complaint filed against Rare Bird by Natasha Tynes is baseless for a host of reasons, chief among them: Rare Bird has never had any agreement of any kind with Ms. Tynes, nor has anyone from Rare Bird ever had any contact with her whatsoever, and Rare Bird’s statement about Ms. Tynes’ conduct was not defamatory. Ms. Tynes’ publisher, California Coldblood, arranged for Rare Bird to distribute the book. As Rare Bird has stated previously, the company could not in good conscience be affiliated in any way with Ms. Tynes’ book, given her actions on social media. As for the amount of damages Mr. Tynes claims to be seeking, it is worth noting that her book had pre-orders of less than 50 copies, and only a few hundred were scheduled to be printed. And it was not initially well-received: https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-947856-75-2 It is ironic that, having taken advantage of her First Amendment rights with an ill-advised tweet, Ms. Tynes now seeks to stifle and punish use of those very same rights of a respected book publisher who legitimately expressed its opinions of her conduct, rather than take responsibility for her own actions. Ms. Tynes would have been better served to have simply let this episode disappear into the annals of history. Rare Bird will, of course, expend all of the resources necessary to defeat this meritless litigation.

A statement from Tynes' attorney William Moran of the law-firm Hawgood, Hawgood & Moran LLP reads: