Arizona women sue California Department of Food and Agriculture manager for sexual harassment
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Three women have sued California’s Department of Food and Agriculture and their former manager for sexual harassment and toxic workplace conditions.
Rebecca Avalos, Judith Mendez and Taelor Flores each allege in the lawsuit that their manager subjected them to unwanted touching, comments about their bodies, sexist remarks and threats of termination. The three Yuma, Arizona, residents served as Plant Quarantine Inspectors at an Interstate 8 inspection station near the California-Arizona border.
The attorneys representing the women declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation, which was filed Nov. 13 in Sacramento Superior Court. The department did not respond to multiple emails from The Sacramento Bee seeking comment.
For the first 12 years with the department, Avalos had no issues at work. But that changed in 2017 when Edgar Rojas became her manager, the lawsuit says. At the time, Avalos was a new mother. Rojas joked about using her breast milk for creamer in his coffee and would compare her to a cow in front of other male employees, the lawsuit states.
To avoid Rojas and the harassment, Avalos was forced to switch from her usual 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. shift and instead pick up evening and overnight shift, the complaint says. The schedule change disrupted her child’s feeding schedule and kept Avalos from putting her child to bed, according to the lawsuit.
In June 2019, Avalos filed a complaint with the CDFA Equal Employment Opportunity office and the California Civil Rights Department. Seven months later, the EEO found Rojas guilty of sexual harassment against Avalos.
Yet, the department didn’t fire him.
Instead, the lawsuit claims, Rojas was able to harass more women who would come to work for him, including seasonal workers Mendez and Flores. Rojas used their temporary employment status as leverage to ensure their silence, according to the lawsuit; he also allegedly threatened them with termination if they talked to Avalos at work.
Rojas reportedly used scare tactics to dissuade the women from reporting him, the lawsuit said.
“You owe me your job. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have a check. I can take that away very easily,” Rojas allegedly said to Mendez, according to the lawsuit. “If you report me, no one will believe you because I am the king of the station and I have people on top in the Sacramento office that can protect me.”
Rojas did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
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