The assistant to the executive director of the Golden Rain Foundation has filed a sexual harassment suit against the organization that runs Seal Beach Leisure World. She has also filed suit against one of the board members, accusing him of sexual harassment and slander.
The individual board member named in the complaint denied the accusation, but said nothing more on the advice of his attorney.
This is the second lawsuit filed against the foundation in recent weeks.
Ms. Kevin Dugoncevic, assistant to Leisure World Executive Director Dan Schaeffer, filed suit on Oct. 12 for sexual harassment, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and slander.
Dugoncevic is seeking unspecified damages.
Dugoncevic’s boss, Schaeffer, filed his own hostile work environment lawsuit against the Golden Rain Foundation and three other foundation board members on Sept. 28. Schaeffer is being represented by the same law firm as Dugoncevic.
Schaeffer is also seeking unspecified damages.
According to the court papers filed by Gary R. Carlin and Ronald L. Zambrano, Dugoncevic quoted that Golden Rain Board member Denis Craig, president of Mutual 11, as saying on Oct. 18, 2011, that she needed to have sex. The court complaint said that Craig followed this remark with an uninvited hug.
“On advise of legal counsel,the only comment I can make at the moment, is “I deny the accusation,” Craig told the Sun.
According to Dugoncevic’s complaint, she is suing Craig for slander on the grounds that he reportedly said she was lying about the incident. The complaint did not say on what date or dates Craig made that charge.
The complaint also says that Craig has retaliated against Dugoncevic for complaining about Craig’s behavior. The complaint did not specify what form the alleged retaliation took.
The complaint contains one factual error: it refers to Dugoncevic as a “he” when Dugoncevic is, in fact, a woman.
Leisure World director’s assistant sues for sexual harassment
By Charles M. Kelly | Wed, Oct 24 2012 04:48 PM
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Sue Savage Says:
Tue, Oct 30 2012 08:42 PMWhy?
Logic dictates that we ask why employees with combined DECADES of experience working under two administrators and dozens of GRF boards, would âsuddenlyâ file lawsuits claiming that they are being treated in a manner that conflicts with existing law.
According to the documents The Sun reported were filed in court, it is obvious that these employees had endured egregious behavior over time and felt they had no other way to make it stop.
Supporters of the defendants are now making laughable claims...such as the salary (set by the GRF Board) of the Administrator (hired by the GRF Board) is higher than their salaries were âback in the day,â so it must constitute âelder abuseâ and the Administrator--but not the board who hired him or agreed to his salary--should be investigated...which, of course, makes no sense at all. Equally preposterous is the claim that they are merely seeking âgolden handshakes.â
People currently âblaming the victimsâ are the very people who are permitted to publicly berate our staff at board meetings, which violates GRF policy and it is in direct violation of established laws on how people must behave in the workplace in the 21st century.
In a week or so (today is 10/30/12), the results of the presidential election will be in and half the country will be furious at the results. But that doesnât mean that âthe losingâ group can do whatever it wants to unseat the winner of that election. The âlosersâ will have to reorganize and do better next time.
"The Losers" who wanted our administrator gone merely needed to wait until his contract expired and, with the current board, vote him out. But they werenât that smart. They attempted to make him go away by metaphorically setting the entire workplace on fire. And now they are trying to charge him--and the other victims--with the arson.
Some of my neighbors might be trusting enough to believe those shoddy defense claims, but I cannot imagine that any currently seated court or arbitrator will fall for them.