The North Central Regional Transit District could be in hot water after two former NCRTD drivers accused the District of mishandling multiple sexual harassment cases. One of those former drivers, Michelle Trujillo, filed a charge of discrimination against the District with the State Human Rights Bureau on Sept. 23.
According to personnel files and a March 28 independent internal investigation, former driver and supervisor James Martinez was frequently accused of sexual harassment during his tenure with the District.
Trujillo said Martinez harassed her habitually and continually, asking her out for drinks, touching her legs and abdomen and requesting hugs. During one instance, Trujillo stated that Martinez touched her leg and told her that he wanted her while they were in a District van together.
Rebecca Garcia is another driver who filed a complaint against Martinez. Garcia said that in May 2012, she handed her time sheet to Martinez, who threw it in a cubbyhole. After Garcia told Martinez to “put it in right,” Martinez allegedly grabbed Garcia from behind, pressed his pelvis against her buttocks and told her, “You want it in like this?” Garcia said she responded by pushing him away and telling him, “Get the (expletive) away from me.”
Garcia said Transit Operations Manager Mike Kelly witnessed the whole sequence of events. Kelly later said he witnessed the aftermath, but determined it to be an innocent prank at the time.
Garcia and Trujillo said after they spurned Martinez’s advances, he began to initiate arguments with them in front of other District drivers.
Both women reported these incidents to Maintenance and Fleets Manager Gus Martinez and Supervisor Tommy Martinez on multiple occasions, without any action taken. Garcia and Trujillo then went to Kelly, who had a meeting with James Martinez in July 2012.
Kelly said that after he reported Garcia and Trujillo’s allegations against him, James Martinez refuted all of their accounts while adding “it’s (B.S.).” James Martinez said that Trujillo and Garcia were retaliating against him for disciplining them and changing their routes.
He also said Trujillo may have been fabricating or exaggerating those events because he was in the process of writing her up for kissing and fondling driver Juan Ortiz in the breakroom.
Trujillo said she was only helping Ortiz with his mileage sheet and James Martinez had fabricated the whole story.
After their meeting, Trujillo and Garcia remained under the direct supervision of James Martinez. He was put on administrative leave Aug. 8, 2012, when Kelly learned that he was discussing the investigation with other employees.
Despite James Martinez’s defense, Kelly still ruled in Trujillo and Garcia’s favor Aug. 8, 2012. After Kelly recommended that he be terminated, James Martinez elected to resign instead.
Garcia and Trujillo said Kelly told them that James Martinez was fired for leaking their meeting to other District employees and not for sexual harassment.
Both also said they weren’t allowed to view the investigation files, though Kelly claims that he had offered viewings of the files to them on two occasions.
While the women said they were dissatisfied with the District’s handling of the case, Trujillo also said she was relieved that James Martinez was gone from the workplace.
Current Driver
Investigated
Trujillo’s relief, however, was short-lived. On March 19, she filed a complaint against current driver Jose Palomares.
Trujillo said that in January 2013, Palomares handed her a bag of condoms and told her she needed them. Suspecting Palomares, Trujillo said someone broke into her locker and stole the bag after she got into an argument with Palomares. He denied having either given her the bag or stealing it. Garcia was the only other District employee to admit to having seen the bag.
Trujillo also cited a 2008 instance where Palomares told a passenger that she had “million-dollar legs” and encouraged him to ask her out on a date before giving the passenger Trujillo’s phone number. In response, Assistant Regional Coordinator Ivan Guillen issued an oral reprimand.
From January to February 2013, Trujillo said she and other District drivers received text messages that were sexually explicit and degrading to women. One text depicted a pair of breasts with the words, “Got Milk” over them. Another text message entitled, “Sexual Harassment (in the) Workplace” showed a man slipping on a banana peel, causing him to accidentally thrust his pelvis into a woman’s buttocks.
Palomares said he had sent a series of inappropriate texts in November 2012, but had not since then.
The independent internal investigation ruled in Palomares’s favor, stating that there was little evidence to support Trujillo’s claims.
The investigation also cast doubt on all of Trujillo and Garcia’s allegations.
“The totality of evidence does not establish that either (Garcia) or (Trujillo) have been subjected to unlawful sexual harassment, or to a hostile work environment based on sex, in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1967, as amended,” the investigation stated.
After the independent investigation concluded, Trujillo reported that she had been approached on Aug. 21 by Palomares’s cousin and threatened in relation to her sexual harassment complaints. While advising her to refuse service to anyone who threatens her, they could not confirm the man’s identity and refused to take action against a non-employee.
In October, Trujillo quit as a driver with the District. Garcia was fired Sept. 12 for continued rule violations, including speeding and talking on her cell phone while driving. In an interview, Garcia said that she suspected that she became a target when she started speaking out against the District and was never given proper evidence of her wrongdoings.