Another former worker of the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation has alleged office retaliation.
Court paperwork filed in December present the division’s former deputy director, Eileen Marrujo, filed a discrimination grievance with the New Mexico Human Rights Bureau in October 2020 after resigning from her place.
The Public Education Department, which oversees the division, and Marrujo’s lawyer, Wayne Suggett, confirmed they reached a settlement within the case Dec. 9, although particulars will not be publicly out there till 90 days after the deal took impact. The grievance sought compensation for misplaced wages and advantages.
Marrujo made comparable accusations towards state directors as lawsuits filed by two different former workers of the division, which provides companies for folks with disabilities who’re looking for employment. She alleges within the grievance she was pressured to resign after defending worker Richard Martinez — who had been the topic of a sexual harassment investigation at his earlier job with the Department of Transportation.
In September 2018, Marrujo discovered the allegations of misconduct towards Martinez “weren’t that critical,” in line with court docket paperwork, and she or he really helpful division Director Adrian Apodaca rent him.
Two months later, her grievance says, “a number of of the feminine workers at DOT who complained about Mr. Martinez went to the press.”
As a end result of the information protection, in line with the grievance, then-Public Education Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski pressured Marrujo and Apodaca to fireplace Martinez, and each had been positioned on paid depart.
A KRQE-TV report on the allegations towards Martinez mentioned three workers on the Transportation Department had accused him of harassment and two of them mentioned they’d felt pressured into having a sexual relationship with him.
Martinez was fired in 2018 over an allegation of résumé fraud however was reinstated in 2020.
Apodaca was fired in 2018 after he was accused of sexual harassment, in line with a lawsuit he filed in 2021.
Marrujo continued on the job after her paid depart, however her grievance alleges she was subjected to “bullying, harassment, and ostracizing” by her superiors.
The grievance additionally says a memorandum of understanding between the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and the Department of Workforce Solutions eliminated some of Marrujo’s tasks overseeing the division’s funds.
The memorandum, which was later terminated on account of authorized points, the grievance says, can be the topic of a whistleblower case filed by Apodaca’s successor, Diane Mourning Brown.
Mourning Brown, whose case is pending, alleges she was fired from the division director’s job in February 2021 for resisting the “unlawful” plan to shift the company from the Public Education Department to the Department of Workforce Solutions.
Marrujo was rehired by the state in January 2021 and now directs the finances workplace for the Public Education Department, in line with the company’s web site.