A former city of Española employee is suing Mayor John Ramon Vigil in federal court, alleging he discriminated against her based on her gender and race.
According to the documents filed Dec. 22, 2025, in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, Santa Clara Pueblo member Jolene Nelson, 62, alleges Vigil worked with other city employees to terminate her as the community development director.
According to the lawsuit, Vigil became “irate” when he learned former city manager Jordan Yutzy hired Nelson and “expressly told City Manager Yutzy that he did not want Plaintiff hired because she was a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo tribe.”
“Defendant stated that because Plaintiff was a Santa Clara Tribal member, she was untrustworthy,” the document states. “Defendant Vigil further told City Manager Yutzy that because Plaintiff was a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo, having her work at the City of Española ‘would be like putting a fox in the hen house.’”
While employed, Nelson said that Vigil was cold toward her, ignored her and refused to return her greetings, according to the lawsuit, and treated her “in a manner consistent with his discriminatory intention that Plaintiff was not to be employed with the City because she was a member of the Santa Clara Pueblo and was a woman.”
The lawsuit also alleges she was denied the use of city vehicles and was not reimbursed expenses for using her personal vehicle for official city duties.
Timeline
Yutzy hired Nelson in June 2023, and like all city employees, she went through a six-month probationary period. By the end of the six months, in December 2023, she had faced no corrective or disciplinary action.
During this six months, Vigil suspended Yutzy and former finance director Robert Corabi, who were eventually terminated in September 2023 after an investigation. According to previous SUN reports, the city council approved their termination in a unanimous vote, and after the meeting, Vigil said that the termination was due to “job performance and a multitude of issues.”
According to Nelson’s lawsuit, Yutzy told Corabi about Vigil’s derogatory statements about her prior to his suspension. Later, Corabi overheard Vigil tell Human Resources Director Sally Baxter that “‘the Native American woman needs to be fired,” the lawsuit states.
Baxter became the interim city manager before the council appointed Eric Lujan. The lawsuit alleges that Vigil hired Lujan because of his willingness “to do his bidding on employment matters and elsewhere to keep his job, and that Mr. Lujan would be his ‘cat’s paw.’”
Nelson met with various Española business owners and retail managers in September 2023 to discuss shoplifting and “who complained to her about the lack of adequate police presence and protection by the Española Police Department,” the lawsuit states.
During this time, Nelson worked with a contractor hired by the city to assist in bringing new businesses to the area, who told her that retail stores “were deterred from coming into Española due to the high rate of crime in the city.”
Upon learning this, Nelson believed that the city was mismanaging police department resources, and she believed this mismanagement led to “inadequate law enforcement presence and protection which was deterring new businesses from moving into the city and which, in turn, had an adverse impact on the city’s ability to increase its tax base and its ability to provide increased job opportunities for residents in an area of high unemployment,” the lawsuit states.
In November 2023, she reported to the Española City Council her findings.
Lujan
According to the lawsuit, Lujan treated Nelson similarly as Vigil. She repeatedly sought support and direction from Lujan, who failed to respond to her and refused to meet with her. The lawsuit also states Lujan excluded her from meetings regarding community and economic development.
About one month after her probationary period ended, on Jan. 19, 2024, Lujan drafted a memo to Nelson stating that her report in November 2023 regarding crime at retail businesses was false and asked her to justify her statements in a report due on Jan. 23, 2024. According to the lawsuit, she received the memo on Jan. 22, 2024, and received a second memo that same day, asking her to provide an account of her goals, accomplishments and ongoing efforts to promote economic development, which was due by Feb. 2, 2024.
Lujan issued Nelson a notice of termination on Feb. 5, 2024.
Nelson’s lawsuit also seeks damages for violation of the New Mexico Whistleblower Protection Act, and states that she “was terminated, in whole or in part, because of statements made in a public Española City Council meeting on November 28, 2023, wherein Plaintiff reported to the Española City Council and to the public, that there was a high rate of theft in the city and this high rate of theft was making it difficult to convince new businesses to come there.”
Vigil
Vigil denied the allegation of discrimination.
“My maternal grandmother was a registered tribal member of Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, and I have countless relatives who are tribal members,” he wrote in a text message. “Any suggestion that I would discriminate stands in direct conflict with my own family’s heritage and values.”