Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Kasparian conflict continues

Complaint says union boss backers unduly fired employee

Mickey Kasparian
Mickey Kasparian

The controversy surrounding union boss Mickey Kasparian and the sexual harassment and intimidation allegations against him have now spilled over to another influential union and an affiliated nonprofit.

On March 9, Nohelia Ramos Campos filed a complaint for employee discrimination with California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing against San Diego's chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. The agency receives funding from the Service Employees International Union Local 221 and the United Commercial Food Workers union, where Kasparian serves as president.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to the complaint, an agent of the employees union demanded that Ramos Campos and her husband (an SEIU Local 221 employee) publicly state their support for Kasparian and criticize the lawsuits against him that allege he sexually harassed, intimidated, and discriminated against three women in his office. When Ramos Campos and her husband resisted doing so, the managing agent for the Service Employees International Union, Melody Godinez, allegedly took action.

Ramos Campos's husband (not named in the complaint) was fired from his job not long after. As for Ramos Campos, she says that her superiors at the Alliance for Community Empowerment non-profit pressured her to express support for Kasparian and criticized her for posting comments on social media websites in support of Kasparian's accusers. The complaint also alleges that Kasparian hinted at pulling funding for the non-profit if Ramos Campos continued her advocacy.

Ramos Campos’s bosses, says the letter to the state, used a letter she wrote criticizing the nonprofit for a "culture" of oppression as a reason to launch an investigation that could ultimately lead to her termination.

The letter criticized the local chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment for allowing "white supremacy and other systems of oppression [to] show up in the workplace."

After submitting the letter, Ramos Campos was notified that she was the subject of an internal investigation.

"Clearly, [the letter] was activity protected by [the Department of Fair and Equal Housing]," reads the March 9 complaint. "Nonetheless, [Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment] punished [Ramos Campos] for this letter and other protected activity, such as her and her husband`s refusal to support Mickey Kasparian, by launching an unwarranted, pretextual investigation that...informed [Ramos Campos] could result in her termination."

(corrected 8:40 a.m., 3/14)

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Next Article

Five new golden locals

San Diego rocks the rockies
Mickey Kasparian
Mickey Kasparian

The controversy surrounding union boss Mickey Kasparian and the sexual harassment and intimidation allegations against him have now spilled over to another influential union and an affiliated nonprofit.

On March 9, Nohelia Ramos Campos filed a complaint for employee discrimination with California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing against San Diego's chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. The agency receives funding from the Service Employees International Union Local 221 and the United Commercial Food Workers union, where Kasparian serves as president.

Sponsored
Sponsored

According to the complaint, an agent of the employees union demanded that Ramos Campos and her husband (an SEIU Local 221 employee) publicly state their support for Kasparian and criticize the lawsuits against him that allege he sexually harassed, intimidated, and discriminated against three women in his office. When Ramos Campos and her husband resisted doing so, the managing agent for the Service Employees International Union, Melody Godinez, allegedly took action.

Ramos Campos's husband (not named in the complaint) was fired from his job not long after. As for Ramos Campos, she says that her superiors at the Alliance for Community Empowerment non-profit pressured her to express support for Kasparian and criticized her for posting comments on social media websites in support of Kasparian's accusers. The complaint also alleges that Kasparian hinted at pulling funding for the non-profit if Ramos Campos continued her advocacy.

Ramos Campos’s bosses, says the letter to the state, used a letter she wrote criticizing the nonprofit for a "culture" of oppression as a reason to launch an investigation that could ultimately lead to her termination.

The letter criticized the local chapter of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment for allowing "white supremacy and other systems of oppression [to] show up in the workplace."

After submitting the letter, Ramos Campos was notified that she was the subject of an internal investigation.

"Clearly, [the letter] was activity protected by [the Department of Fair and Equal Housing]," reads the March 9 complaint. "Nonetheless, [Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment] punished [Ramos Campos] for this letter and other protected activity, such as her and her husband`s refusal to support Mickey Kasparian, by launching an unwarranted, pretextual investigation that...informed [Ramos Campos] could result in her termination."

(corrected 8:40 a.m., 3/14)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Raging Cider & Mead celebrates nine years

Company wants to bring America back to its apple-tree roots
Next Article

Now what can they do with Encinitas unstable cliffs?

Make the cliffs fall, put up more warnings, fine beachgoers?
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader