Mary Brinegar, president and CEO of the Dallas Arboretum, has resigned.

After months of protests and employment discrimination lawsuits filed against the facility, the target of those demonstrations has submitted her retirement letter.

Protests began in April and continued every other weekend through June.

In January, a former employee of the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society Inc. filed complaints with both the EEOC and the city of Dallas Office of Fair Housing and Human Rights, saying that their former bosses discriminated against them based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and mental and physical disabilities. Lambda Legal represented the employee.

In June, Lambda Legal filed an EEOC complaint against Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society, Inc. on behalf of another former employee who said he was fired after his bosses at the Arboretum found out he was gay.

During demonstrations, employees of the Arboretum approached protesters and indicated they were regularly discriminated against on the basis of their race. And Jewish groups have long avoided the facility because of charges of anti-Semitism.

In each case, fingers have been pointed at Brinegar as the source of the discrimination.

In her resignation letter, Brinegar didn’t address the controversies. She doesn’t give a final date of employment.

— David Taffet