Comite de Bien Estar faces discrimination suit
Former employee says directors created hostile work environment
A former employee of San Luis, Ariz.-based Comite de Bien Estar Inc. claims in a federal lawsuit she was subjected to sex and age discrimination and a hostile work environment, allegedly created by Executive Director Marco “Tony” Reyes and his deputy director.
Reyes is the Yuma County supervisor for District 4 and the current Board of Supervisors chairman. The complaint does not refer to any actions he took as a county official.
Attorney Isaac P. Hernandez of Phoenix filed the lawsuit against the nonprofit agency for plaintiff Beatriz Sandoval, its former nutrition program director, at U.S. District Court in Phoenix in August 2017.
Reyes and Deputy Director Gary Black are not named as defendants, but their behavior is discussed throughout the complaint.
Sandoval was hired by the organization in August 1998 and fired in March 2015. The suit said she “regularly” heard Reyes and Black “use derogatory or inappropriate words with female employees (Spanish reina” the (queen) document such for little as and girl), says. “mijita” “bitches,” “mi
Both men are alleged to have used intimidating behaviors around female employees not seen with men, “e.g. yelling, pounding their hands or fists on desks and tables.”
It also alleged Reyes “regularly attempted to have unwelcome physical contact with female employees,” including touching their arms and backs and putting his arm around their waists. The suit Sandoval made complaints about his behavior toward other women, but does not indicate he acted that way toward her. Sandoval says the derogatory comments grew more frequent the last couple of years she worked there, and Reyes, Black and Hernandez began suggesting that she should retire or work on a succession plan within her department, due to her age. The lawsuit says Sandoval issued numerous complaints about Black and Reyes to Comite’s HR director Maria Hernandez, who is Reyes’ sister, including four in the last year she was there.
Hernandez told Sandoval she had told them to stop behaving that way, but no disciplinary action was ever taken against Reyes and Black that she knows of, according to the suit.
Sandoval said Comite’s lack of intervention with Reyes and Black created “an intimidating, hostile and offensive working environment,” causing her to lose wages and benefits, as well as suffer emotional distress and other symptoms.
The suit says that when she was fired by Reyes in
March 2015, he said “she was being terminated because she had the personality of a female dog and because (Comite de Bien Estar) had received complaints from other employees regarding Plaintiff’s behavior.”
Sandoval alleges she was never told of any complaints from employees of the Nutrition Department she led for Comite de Bien Estar, and was not shown any documentation about them.
The lawsuit seeks lost wages and compensation, general and punitive damages as well as attorney’s fees, but does not give a dollar figure.
Comite de Bien Estar’s response to the case denies all the substantial allegations of the case, as did Reyes when talking to the Yuma Sun about the case Wednesday.
He said he has never referred to anyone at the office as a “bitch,” and he took action 12 years ago when Sandoval filed a complaint over someone else using that word.
“The first time we went to the EEOC because I thought she she had a valid argument, specifically in that instance,” he said.
He also said he never touched women employees inappropriately.
“What she is misconstruing is that we have a very family-oriented organization, people hug, people do all these things, and they’re not sexual in nature. What to some people is simply being friendly, to other people it’s an invasion of privacy,” he said.
He has used terms such as “mijita,” but they weren’t meant as derogatory, he said.
He said Sandoval was fired after the three employees she supervised at the nutrition center in Yuma complained about her, threatening to quit if she wasn’t let go.
When meeting with her about her termination, Reyes said he told her, in Spanish, that she was “working her staff like dogs.”
“I never called her a female dog, in English or Spanish,” he said.
A retired banker was initially hired to take over the program after Sandoval left, he said, and two years later her former assistant moved into her position, Reyes said. The lawsuit only refers to the “32-yearold assistant” as her successor.
Sandoval was only an occasional presence at the San Luis headquarters of Comite de Bien Estar, because she worked in Yuma, Reyes said.
The agency has insurance and the insurance company is paying the legal costs, so they won’t affect the budget of the agency, he said.
Comite de Bien Estar currently has 60 employees. It builds apartments and other affordable housing, runs a self-help housing program, and offers home equity and commercial loans. It also offers training to operators of home day-care centers and other services.
Reyes has been a county supervisor for 20 years and executive director of Comite for 37. He says Sandoval is the only employee who’s ever filed a complaint against him.
“I’ve been around a long time, I’ve been in public office a long time. If I had those inclinations you can’t hide them for 37 years, or pretend to be something or not. I’ve been a supervisor for 20 years, and I’ve never gotten a complaint about anything,” he said.
Sandoval demands a jury trial in the suit. Depositions are currently being taken in the case, after settlement negotiations failed, Reyes said.
Sandoval and her attorney could not be reached for further comment Wednesday.