A Santa Fe County worker has recently sued her employer, citing sexual orientation, gender discrimination, harassment and an incident in which her supervisor intentionally pushed her down a flight of stairs.
According to a September 16 KOAT 7 Albuquerque article, Jayla Ortiz, who has since been let go from her job because she physically couldn’t make it to work, says that she broke several bones and had damaged discs in her neck after the stair incident.
“I enjoyed my job, but I didn’t enjoy the part of getting harassed every day by (my) supervisor — that was hard,” Ortiz, who worked for the county clerk for about 10 years, said.
In Ortiz’s lawsuit, she stated that her supervisor, Esther Artino, would regularly make comments about Ortiz being gay — and also claims Artino said Ortiz “looks and acts like a man,” according to KOAT 7.
Artino also allegedly forced Ortiz to shred paper in the county clerk building’s basement, even though she was a recording clerk.
Ortiz’ lawsuit also details an incident in which Artino pushed her down a flight of stairs. During a verbal conflict between the two, “I just felt a push. I tried to step and I started rolling down the stairs that were there,” Ortiz said.
Ortiz lay at the bottom of the stairs for an hour before being discovered in a pool of blood, KOAT 7 reports. She incurred a broken ankle, finger and vertebra in her neck as a result of the fall, and had to have three surgeries.
Ortiz told KOAT 7 she hopes her lawsuit will result in change for the better. Artino still works at the county clerk’s office, and Santa Fe County declined to comment to KOAT 7 about the lawsuit.