Chairman of Yuma County Board of Supervisors named in lawsuit

The chairman of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors is named in allegations of a hostile work environment and retaliation.

Beatriz Sandoval, a former employee of Comite de Bien Estar, is pursuing a lawsuit against the non-profit, Comite de Bien Estar.

In the complaint, she named Marco “Tony” Reyes, the chairman of the Yuma County Board of Supervisors, and Executive Director of Comite de Bien Estar and employee Gary Black.

Sandoval originally made four allegations against the non-profit which included hostile work environment, sex discrimination, discrimination based on age, and retaliation.

Both sex discrimination and discrimination based on age have since been dropped.

Reyes said the claims don’t add up.

“Retaliation which is a claim that because of what she filed in 2002. We had let her go because of that, which is on its face is preposterous. I mean who waits 13 years to retaliate against someone,” said Reyes. “I have run that office for 37 years. There has never been anybody else to file complaints or have ever said there was a hostile work environment in The Comite.”

The 2002 claim was between Sandoval and Gary Black, her supervisor.

“She ran a program, an administration program and his supervisor lost his temper a few times and called her that word that she continually uses in there. The b-word. So, because I felt that was a credible claim. We went and settled in, it’s called, its a process called mediation,” explained Reyes.

Reyes claimed he sent Black to sensitivity training.

Sandoval continued to work at Comite de Bien Estar until March 2015 when she was terminated.

“She was terminated because all her employees at the San Luis location gave us an ultimatum. It was either they stay and she goes or they went and she stayed. This was the second time it happened. So, the first time we had a problem. We sort of let everyone else go and she re-did it, but this time we felt the claims were credible,” said Sandoval.

Reyes explained all but one of the employees she oversaw were a part of the ultimatum.

Sandoval thinks she was fired for another reason.

“She believes the real reason for her termination is because she openly rejected inappropriate behavior directed at her and because she regularly complained about the inappropriate behavior that she observed in the workplace. Her complaints to other managers, including Mr. Reyes’ sister and Human Resources Director Maria Hernandez, were ignored,” said Sandoval’s attorney, Isaac Hernandez, in a press release to News 11.

Reyes offered examples of hugs given at employee gatherings and touching of the shoulder. He explained he was not sexually assaulting Sandoval. He also explained calling Sandoval terms such as ” mijita ” and “mi reina” were not sexual in nature.

Sandoval explained her reasoning for the lawsuit.

“She is doing so not only because she believes she was subjected to unlawful harassment and retaliation, but also to encourage others in the community to learn about their rights and to stand up and speak out against inappropriate behavior and abuse of authority,” according to the Sandoval’s lawyer.