With little or no discussion from commissioners, the Cameron County Commissioners Court approved the settlement of a sexual harassment case filed by Melinda Garza Henderson against her former boss Pct. 2 Constable Pete Avila and Cameron County.
The case had been wending its way through state and federal courts since 2012.
Although there was no number mentioned on the amount, sources close to the court indicate that a six-figure offer – perhaps as much as $150,000 – had been offered and accepted in the deal.
Some of our sources say that the potential for involvement of other county officials if a suit was allowed to go to trial made it untenable. Henderson at one time worked for County Judge Carlos Cascos and Pct. 2 commissioner John Wood before she was hired as an administrative assistant by Avila.
In the past, Avila said he had hired her partly as a favor to a request from Pct. 1 commissioner Sofia Benavides.
The lawsuit settlement comes at the worse time for Avila who is in the runoff for the Pct. 2 Justice of the Peace, Place 3, against Mary Esther Garcia. That election will be held May 27.
Garcia didn't garner the required 50 percent plus 1 vote to win it outright. Instead, she got 2,628 votes to Avila's 2,489, a difference of 139 votes.
Minerva Peña, a Brownsville Independent School Board trustee, came in third with 2,381, enough to throw the election into a runoff between Garcia and Avila.
Henderson's attorneys had initially filed the lawsuit in Hidalgo County Court-at-Law #5, and Cameron County lawyers moved for its removal to federal district court in Brownsville.
However, since the lawsuit was filed in federal court there, county lawyers counseled against it saying that at best he had a 40-60 percent chance of prevailing in the case.
County legal counsel had filed a motion to transfer venue to Brownsville federal court but after a hearing and considering both parties' briefs, on October 10 federal Judge Hilda Tagle issued an order for the plaintiff Henderson, setting the case for trial in federal court in the McAllen Division of the Southern District of Texas.
Tagle said that the counsel for Henderson had filed in Hidalgo County and that "finding that the state court is pending in Hidalgo County, properly or not, the court finds that the McAllen Division of the Southern District of Texas is the proper venue to which the defendants (Avila and Cameron County) should have removed the state action."
Cameron County had argued otherwise and lost the bid to bring the lawsuit here.
In her lawsuit, Henderson said that she had been hired in January 2009 as a secretary for the commissioner of Pct. 2,. Eventually she was promoted to the position of Avila's administrative assistant in the Pct. 2 Constable's office.
According to her attorneys, that's when her problems began.
They allege that during her employment "(she) was subjected to quid pro quo sexual harassment, disparate treatment, a hostile work environment and /or gender discrimination...in the form of lewd, sexually suggestive comments and continued sexual advances by (Avila)..."
She alleged that Avila did not treat her the same as other male employees in the office and that she suffered retaliation or reprisal for reporting allegations of her abuse, exploitation and sexual harassment at the hands of (Avila).
In her statement of facts, Henderson charges that Avila touched, groped and fondled (her) on her thighs and near her genital area without her consent on at least three occasions during her employment...
"On one occasion, (Avila) told (her) that he would top pressuring her to become sexually involved with him in exchange for money, namely – a $300 cash contribution to his re-election campaign.
"On (one) occasion, (Avila) went as far as to enter (her) home without her consent.
"In February 2011, after reaching for (her) genital area without her consent, (Avila) reminded (her) that her continued secure employment with the county depended on her becoming sexually involved with him."
She also charged that Avila had demanded she sign a letter of resignation, which she said she refused. When she filed a grievance, the county told her she would have to file it first with her immediate superior, Avila himself. She said that he threw the complaint into the trash when he she handed it to him.
He then filed two written warnings against her for leaving the office door closed.
Then, on April 11, 2011, she charged that Avila and three of his deputies entered the office, demanded she surrender the keys to the office and told her she was fired and told her not to return.
Avila and the county issued a general denial of the charges in their response to Henderson's lawsuit.
The causes of action in her complaint listed a violation of the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act and the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964, sexual harassment, retaliation, and assault and battery. She was asking for lost earnings and special damages including past and future mental anguish, exemplary damages, and attorneys and litigation fees.
15 comments:
What a shame that Pete Avila is such a "dirty old man" and the taxpayers have to pay for his "machismo" and attempts to exercise his power over employees. We have too much of this in Cameron County...just another part of our "third world" identity. Pete Avila should have to pay for his indiscretions and his personal failures/sexual insecurities. Perhaps he should add to his campaign credits.."caused taxpayers to have to pay $150,000 (or whatever the final figure was) to bail me out for being a sexual pervert".
So the Whore Melinda got 200,000?
Melinda was called the highway in the department?
Was it because todos la correteaban?
Is Melinda a vieja wanga?
And don't forget that she is Sofie's friend?
I voted for him... now I am not... so, if they settled an amount it has to be because they knew they would not win that case...
Cascos, and Hernandez, the 2 biggest snakes in Cameron County, were able to work with this lady for extended periods of time, with dissatisfaction, and were both able to break employment ties without any retaliation of sexual harassment charges against them! And you want us to believe that, because she is Sofie's friend, she is setting you up for these allegations!?? Tas pendejo! For us to believe that conspiracy theory...you would have to believe that, we the public, are so stupid as to believe, that way back when Sofia, "pressured you"to hire melinda, and you were a constable, Sofie came across a magic crystal ball, that showed her that there would be a new JP position, that she would have her daughter run for. And at that same time she saw in this magical crystal ball, that you, who was, a constable securely, at the time, would throw your hat in for this JP race! WOW!!! And with this knowledge, of visions from the future, has spent the last 3 years or so, figuring and planning and devising the perfect plan to get the timing just right (because today's court/legal processes are so predictable) to burn you with this information, so that her daughter can win the election! I BELIEVE! Thank you pete avila, for making us see the light with facts! Ha ha ha! Dumbass! Should have kept you old ass hands to yourself! Be a man! If you absolutely believed in your innocence, you should have told county counsel to shove it and hired your own attorneys to fight the case for you! Because, I mean let's face it, accepting that the taxpayers, pay for your mistake, doesn't make you look guilty!!! Loser!
I believe the Januaary 2009 hiring was by Carlos Cascos, because that is when she went to work in the County Judge's office. Then when he was through with her he encouraged Avila to hire her. She aparrently received the same treatment in Avila's office that she had received in the Judge's office.
A que gente tan tonta......SERIOUSLY PPL. I thought the citizens of Brownsville were smarter than that. Esta vieja no esta tonta sabe donde chingar....in other words this is NOT her first rodeo. Look into her background...her track record shows nothing but deception, greed and unlady like manners. Why did her much much older ex husband divorce her??? He GPS her untrustworthy ass and where did they find her????? With Manriquez.....PPL dont be so quick to point the dirty finger. Wasnt she promised a position with Abelardos administration....what a coincidence this story of sexual harassment comes a float. Shes smart cuz she has manage to live off these stupid men that HAVE TO keep their mouth shut cuz she has enough shit on them. I doubt Avila did something. He's old school...he knows his way around the system but who knows bout the rest of these idiots. Al rato se revela TODO
Henderson worked in the county judge's office in early 2007. She left in mid 2007. Avila was elected in 2008, taking office in 2009. So to suggest that Cascos encouraged Avila to hire her 2 years later doesn't make sense. It was Wood & Benavides that asked Avila to hire Henderson, that, according to Avila himself.
The rest are idiots, and Avila isn't? Are you high? He is the only one that had to use the taxpayer tit, to pay her off!!!
Yep
And what does that have to do, anything, with him sexually assaulting her!???
Amen! He is a scumbag! Voted for him last time! Won't make the same mistake twice! Ms. Garcia, now has my vote!
More often than not, the county almost always settles. It doesn't necessarily mean he was guilty. These allegations weren't true. She retaliated because NO ONE liked her and she was going to get fired. Believe me when I say, no one liked her.
Na! Na! Na! I call bullshit! He had his chance to man up, and hire his own counsel to defend him! He allowed the county ti settle on his behalf!!!! By doing so he has lost his right to cry foul! GUILTY AS CHARGED!!! Avila is a sexual predator! Should not be allowed to run for office!!!
BTW, he passed a lie detector test.... and its on YouTube!
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