Longtime Cambria CSD staffer accuses district of gender discrimination, unequal pay
One of the Cambria Community Service District’s longest-serving staffers who recently served a brief tenure as its acting general manager is suing the agency for alleged gender and age discrimination, as well as violation of the California Equal Pay Act.
Monique Madrid, who has been with the district since 2001 and currently serves as its administration department manager, filed a complaint in San Luis Obispo Superior Court on Nov. 26 seeking an unspecified general and special damages as well as recouping of legal fees.
Specifically, Madrid names the district as defendant for 10 civil allegations related to equal pay, discrimination, retaliation, and infliction of emotional distress.
Lawsuits represent just one side of the story and the district has yet to file a response in court.
Its current general manager, John Weigold, had not responded to an email request for comment as of Friday.
Requests for comments by members of the board of directors were referred to district legal counsel Tim Carmel, who wrote in an email Friday that “the district just learned of the lawsuit on Wednesday.”
“As it is pending litigation, we have no comment at this time,” Carmel wrote.
Madrid declined to comment through her Santa Maria-based attorney, Paul Greco, who said that his client is “looking forward to presenting her case and vindicating her rights in Paso Robles Superior Court.”
Lawsuit alleges ‘toxic work environment’
In her complaint, Madrid states that she was working as a $129,000-per year administrative services officer, a department head position, in 2016 when she was promoted to assistant general manager while retaining the same title, with a 5% raise to approximately $136,000 per year.
Though she took on more responsibility with the promotion, she was still paid about $9,000 per year less than two unnamed male department heads under her at the time, the complaint says.
In 2018, when the district parted ways with general manager Jerry Gruber, Madrid was again promoted to acting general manager with a salary of $152,000 per year, a roughly 13% increase in pay.
But shortly after she served the maximum time allowed in an interim position — 960 hours — the district hired two men at a higher rate of pay, “although Ms. Madrid managed two positions while working as the acting general manger, including her old department head duties,” the complaint says.
In May, shortly before the district finalized its hire of Weigold, district administrators informed Madrid, without providing a reason, that she was being returned to her old administrative services officer position, according to her lawsuit.
The district adopted the reorganization in June, and Madrid was demoted to a non-administrative position which the complaint states included a “drastic decrease in pay and responsibilities,” the complaint says.
After the demotion, two unnamed men were hired as a replacement for Madrid’s previous acting general manager position, the lawsuit states, but at a higher rate of pay “even though one man had far less experience in the field and was completely ignorant of the organization, and the other worked part-time ...”
That month, she made a complaint to the district for harassment and retaliation “which was never addressed, given attention, or processed in a manner that every other (complaint to the district has been),” the lawsuit says.
Madrid alleges that, since 2019, the district has allowed the general manager — presumably Weigold — and other department heads “to openly disrespect, harass, and belittle (Madrid), including, but not limited to, the fire chief, previous general managers, and (others).”
“Complaints by (Madrid) have been routinely ignored, creating a toxic work environment,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that, instead of addressing her concerns, management filed a written reprimand against Madrid, humiliating her in front of her peers and subordinates. She claims that she’s insisted the district cease engaging in harassment, but the district has “patently refused to conform itself to existing lawful work practices.”
Madrid is demanding a civil jury trial.
The case is scheduled for its first hearing in the Paso Robles courthouse in March.
