Correspondence - Non Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

1 be a consensus in disciplining employees properly moving forward. 2 13. Thus, during this meeting on December 19, 2022, Ms. Roach, Mr. Hernandez, Ms. Ortiz 3 brought up the unprofessional atmosphere, including the employees' false reporting of wages. Rather 4 than acknowledging Ms. Ortiz's concerns, Mr. Hernandez insinuated that if he brought her concerns 5 up to Parks and Recreation Manager, Tim Pegano, Ms. Oritz's employment would be terminated. Mr. 6 Hernandez stated that "[he] knows what [Mr. Pegano] is going to tell him, and [he] does not want to 7 do that to [Ms. Ortiz]." 8 14. On December 20, 2022, Ms. Ortiz's supervisors, Mr. Pegano and Mr. Hernandez, asked for a 9 "cheekin-in" meeting stating that they were "concerned for [Ms. Ortiz's] wellbeing. Ms. Ortiz 10 reiterated her concerns and asked for a transfer to another community center. Rather than taking Ms. V 11 Ortiz's complaints seriously,her supervisors scolded her, simply stating that, "[Ms. Ortiz doesn't]have o¢ a <0 12 the rank to call the shots" and "by moving locations, [Ms. Oritz's] reputation would be that she does ZEQ 13 not work well with others." Ms. Ortiz felt she had no support working for the City following the W 14 behavior of Mr. Hernandez and lack of concern from both of her supervisors. 1t was clear to Ms. Ortiz ao¢ ►� 15 that the City did not intend to take any of her complaints seriously and resented her for bringing such w� W a 16 matters to their attention. 4024 O 3 17 e. Ms. Ortiz's Employment is Terminated Following Protected Complaints aU� 18 15. When Ms. Ortiz returned to work on January 3, 2023, she diligently continued her work in 19 preventing wage theft by implementing a new policy regarding employee attendance and reported 20 working hours. The new policy instructed employees to call the Community Center to report when 21 employees were unable to work or would be late to their respective shifts. On January 5, 2023, after 22 one of the employees she oversaw falsified their timeshect, Ms. Ortiz again complained to Mr. 23 Hernandez, stating that the conduct was not conducive to the City's new policy and the employee 24 needed to be held accountable. Mr. Hernandez continued to disregard Ms. Ortiz's complaints. 25 16. On January 18,2023,Mr. Hernandez and Mr. Pogano met with Ms. Ortiz and informed her that 26 her employment was terminated. Given that Mr. Hernandez had been visibly frustrated by Ms. Ortiz's 27 complaints throughout her employment, it is not surprising that her termination came only two weeks 28 after her most recent refusal to sign off on employees' time sheets that she knew to be fabricated. The PLAINTIFF PALOMA ORTIZ'S COMPLAINT 4