Counselor suing Merced City School District and principal, alleging sexual harassment
A 29-year-old elementary school counselor in Merced is suing her former principal for allegedly sexually harassing her with “stalker-like behavior.”
In her lawsuit filed in Merced County, educator Alejandra Ramirez details unwanted late-night flirty phone texts, hand-written notes and gifts of chocolate sent to her by Rivera Elementary principal David Garza, a married man.
She’s also suing the Merced City School District for failure to prevent sexual harassment, negligent hiring and emotional distress.
Calls were placed to Merced City School District on Monday, but officials could not be reached for comment.
Ramirez in the suit alleges the principal began showing her lots of attention soon after he joined the staff of the elementary school in 2018.
Garza would tell her how young she looked. He’d give her special perks, like access to a new laptop and a master key to the school.
“Garza also repeatedly initiated private, personal matters in conversation with Plaintiff, and he followed up or commented whenever Plaintiff did not respond to his attempts to discuss intimate subjects. He spent time lingering in Plaintiff’s office, including when Plaintiff was attempting to counsel students,” according to the lawsuit.
At one point, Garza is alleged to have told Ramirez that he had developed romantic feelings for her and was sexually attracted to her, the lawsuit states.
In an interview with the Sun-Star, Ramirez said she couldn’t take the manipulation and pressure Garza was putting on her to have a relationship.
“I kept telling him to stop, that I wasn’t interested in him and that I had a boyfriend,” she said. ”He would apologize and then start doing it all over again. I knew I had to do something.”
After several months, Ramirez told her boyfriend what Garza was doing.
“I just handed my boyfriend my phone and showed him all the text messages,” she said. “He looks at me and says, ‘this is sexual harassment’ and this is against the law.”
Upset by what was happening to Ramirez, her boyfriend called Garza and demanded he leave her alone.
On about Jan. 7, 2020, Garza confronted Ramirez and urged her not to tell district officials school officials about his text messages, saying her reputation would be ruined and her name would be in the newspaper, the lawsuit states.
The next day, Ramirez was summoned to the district office where she met with Assistant Superintendent Brian Meisenheimer, and Director of Pupil Services Sergio Mendez, according to the suit.
They said Garza confessed to them about a flirtatious relationship, but claimed it was mutual. He also told them she wanted to be transferred to another school, a statement she also denies. And ultimately, the administrators told her, it was her word against his.
“This was like a living nightmare,” Ramirez said. “My fear kind of faded and I started to become angry. I told Brian ‘Did you read the text messages?’ And Brian said he hadn’t because Garza had deleted them. I told them there was nothing that happened between us that was consensual.”
Soon after the meeting, Ramirez filed a formal complaint with the district against Garza. After a two-month investigation, the district concluded Garza had engaged in a pattern of sexual harassment against Ramirez.
But the district didn’t fire Garza, they demoted him to a teaching position at another school, according to the lawsuit.
Part of what Ramirez says she wants to achieve through the lawsuit is a greater awareness of sexual harassment among the district’s staff and teachers.
“At all relevant times, the District failed to provide any effective anti-sexual harassment training to its employees, including supervisors. Plaintiff has been approached by multiple colleagues who have told her that they too were victims of sexual harassment while employed in local school district,” the lawsuit states.
Ramirez plans to speak before the school board meeting on Tuesday to let the school community know what happened to her and possibly to others.
“My role is to advocate for students but I am also using my role to advocate for employees and to make sure if someone needs help I will help them,” Ramirez said.
“I want people to know that I will not tolerate or accept abusive behavior from men. I owe it to my niece and my teenage sister to teach them what courage means. I was sexually harassed and I am demanding accountability.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
