Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Filed Against Former College President
A sexual harassment lawsuit was filed in federal court against Luna Community College former President Leroy Sanchez alleging he touched Charlene Ortiz-Cordova the former academic advisor, made unwanted sexual gestures, and made inappropriate comments to her over several months. The lawsuit also alleges that Luna failed or refused to take appropriate action to prevent and correct the sexual harassment.
The lawsuit is being filed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which protects women from discrimination in employment. The lawsuit also alleges the harassment resulted in a hostile work environment for Ortiz-Cordova. Under the Civil Rights Act of 1991, 42 U.S.C. § 1981a., statutory caps on damages are imposed for both compensatory and punitive damages. The combined damage caps are based on the number of employees an employer has working for it. For employers who have in excess of 500 workers $300,000 is the statutory cap.
According to the lawsuit Ortiz-Cordova complained repeatedly about the unwanted harassment to her immediate supervisors but only after a year passed did one of them alert the college’s human-resources department of her complaints. Mr. Sanchez was told to avoid contacting Ms. Ortiz-Cordova, the suit alleges, but he was never disciplined and nothing further was done about the matter
Ms. Ortiz-Cordova left her job with Luna in 2006 and filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC"), which investigated and verified the allegations. Attempts at mediation were unsuccessful which resulted in the filing of the lawsuit.
