Former employees sue Stockton's Delta College for alleged discrimination, retaliation

"Intolerable working conditions" at San Joaquin Delta College could force the school to dole out millions of dollars to two former employees who claim a racism-fueled culture went unchanged despite warning after warning.

The employee accused of "repugnant actions" remains at the college while school officials said details from their investigation into the matter won't be released. While citing personnel privacy as the reason they won't speak out, they may not be able to hide behind that in response to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, brought on behalf of plaintiffs Neelab Ibrahim and Dawn Kendrick, was filed on July 18 in San Joaquin County Superior Court. The women are asking for $2 million in damages.

Overworked, underpaid

Ibrahim was hired as a fiscal technician at Delta College in 2017. The lawsuit claims that during her time working in the college's fiscal services department, Ibrahim faced rank discrimination by her employer, was denied opportunities for promotion, and forced to work "out of class" or above her pay grade without extra compensation.

The complaint also alleges that Ibrahim, a native of Afghanistan, was subjected to racial discrimination by Vanessa Rodriguez, director of Fiscal Services. The plaintiffs claim that the college's human resources department turned a "blind eye ... towards Rodriguez's repugnant actions" when made aware of the discrimination.

Over the course of a two-year period, Ibrahim applied for higher positions in an effort to be compensated for the work she was already performing, the lawsuit states. The suit describes four instances in which Ibrahim was denied of a promotion, including in November 2020.

"Ms. Ibrahim applied for a Level 4 (Fiscal Analyst) position, for which there were now two vacancies. Ms. Ibrahim had been doing Level 4 work for years at Delta College, but she was not getting compensated for it," the lawsuit states.

"Having not heard anything for four months after she applied, Ms. Ibrahim reached out to Ms. Rodriguez. Ms. Rodriguez falsely told Ms. Ibrahim that she did not meet the minimum educational requirements for the Level 4 (Fiscal Analyst) position. This was not true," the document claims.

Ibrahim obtained a degree in accounting and finance from Kabul University, and worked for a decade at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, according to court records. She later received a master's degree in public administration from California State University, East Bay. These experiences made her "perfectly qualified" for the position, the lawsuit states.

"When Ms. Ibrahim reached out to human resources about this issue, Vanessa Rodriguez yelled at her, and gave her a write up without notifying the union," the lawsuit alleges.

'Sick of this f---ing b---h'

Kendrick, Ibrahim's direct supervisor, had multiple conversations with Rodriguez regarding Ibrahim's role, according to the lawsuit. In a 49-minute conversation on June 7, 2022, the lawsuit alleges Rodriguez "unleashed a salvo of personal attacks against Ms. Ibrahim."

Then, on June 14, 2022, the lawsuit states Kendrick participated in a "2.5-hour team call" with Rodriguez to discuss whether Ibrahim was qualified for a promotion.

"It was during this conversation that the extent of Ms. Rodriguez's vitriol against Ms. Ibrahim became apparent," the lawsuit claims. "In a heated frenzy, Ms. Rodriguez said of Ms. Ibrahim, 'Neely [Ibrahim] has a false sense of self, and thinks she is better than everyone else. She even applied for my job! Can you even imagine, Dawn?'"

"Ms. Rodriguez then began shouting at Ms. Kendrick, 'She is from Afghanistan! You know how those people are from that country! They are violent and live in chaos, and they push and push until they get what they want. Neely is just like that!" the document claims.

Kendrick reported the conversation to Theresa Truly, director of human resources, and told her that Rodriguez's statements were "blatant discrimination of [Ibrahim's] nationality, culture and race." She added that Rodriguez was sabotaging Ibrahim's career and provided Truly with a timeline listing the positions she applied for and the reasons why they were denied, according to the lawsuit.

"The head of human resources took no notes, asked no questions, and as far as Ms. Kendrick could tell, conducted no follow-up with her or anyone else," the lawsuit claims.

The suit claims Rodriguez's discrimination against Ibrahim continued, even after human resources became involved.

In a four-hour phone call with Kendrick on June 28, 2022, Rodriguez allegedly went on a hate-fueled rant after she found out Ibrahim filed a complaint to human resources against her as well.

"Ms. Rodriguez made a point, again, of noting that Ms. Ibrahim was from Afghanistan, 'and that is where she received her education, and you know, foreign degrees don't mean s--t in our country ... Afghanistan and that region of the world is violent and chaotic, and those f----d up Middle Eastern people bring that s--t here to the United States and expect us to give them everything! I can’t stand it, and she is just like the rest of them! I am sick of this f---ing b---h! She doesn’t even belong in our department!'" the lawsuit claims.

Later that summer, Ibrahim requested reclassification due to the more advanced "out of class" work she had been doing, but not getting compensated for, the lawsuit states. Kendrick was instructed by human resources that, as Ibrahim's direct supervisor, she would have to review Ibrahim's submission for reclassification and validate that she had been doing out of class work.

Kendrick submitted the form to human resources and noted that Ibrahim had been misclassified for years dating back to her hire in 2017. A week later, Kendrick was told that her assignment at Delta College had been terminated.

"No reason was given as to why it was terminated," the lawsuit alleges. "Ms. Kendrick had received no prior complaints, write ups, or concerns whatsoever regarding her work."

Ibrahim resigned this June, noting that from her first day she had been working outside of her classification and she applied for promotion and advancement multiple times, always to be told the position was "on hold."

Sacramento-based attorney Kellie Marie Murphy will represent Delta College in the lawsuit. A case management conference has been scheduled for Jan. 16.

Still employed, no comment

Alex Breitler, a spokesman for the college, confirmed that Rodriguez and Truly are still employed by the institution and provided a statement to The Record on Monday.

"As a general rule, Delta College does not comment in detail on pending legal matters in order to preserve the integrity of the process," Breitler said. "We can confirm that the college has investigated the allegations, but cannot discuss that investigation as this is a personnel matter."

"Delta College is firmly committed to diversity in the workplace and to ensuring that employees from all backgrounds and walks of life are welcomed into our college community and treated respectfully."

Emails to Rodriguez and Truly seeking comment were not immediately returned on Monday.

This comes as Delta College released its annual campus climate survey, which found that some employees experienced microaggressions at work, particularly African American/Black employees.

"African American/Black employees shared stories of microaggressions they had experienced at Delta, including being demeaned or humiliated by campus police, being treated inferiorly as a result of wearing casual clothing versus professional attire, and receiving irrelevant and ignorant comments about Black hair," the report states.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Former employees sue Delta College alleging discrimination, retaliation