Female lobbyist sues former firm for alleged retaliation over harassment claims

SACRAMENTO — A lobbyist has sued her former firm, alleging she was fired for signing a letter speaking out against sexual harassment.

Alicia Lewis was terminated in October. She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in her lawsuit. Lewis v. Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney LLP, 00224671 (Sacramento Super. Ct., filed Jan. 2, 2017).

Wilke Fleury quickly put out a statement denying Lewis’ accusations.

According to Lewis’ attorney, Micha Star Liberty, Lewis was fired about a week after she informed her superiors that she had signed the #WeSaidEnough letter detailing the experiences of women working in and around the Capitol.

“This lawsuit is about systemic retaliation against a woman for speaking up and exercising her right of free speech to help spread info about sexual harassment and sexual assault in the Capitol,” said the owner of Liberty Law Office in San Francisco.

“What we have here is a hardworking lobbyist who represented her clients well and had no performance issues. But for her participation in a cause that was near and dear to her heart, she would have continued with that career,” Liberty added.

Wilke Fleury partner Ronald R. Lamb responded in an emailed statement, “Our firm fully supports the movement to address sexual harassment and adamantly denies any suggestion we have mistreated any employee for his or her involvement in such movement.”

Reached by phone, Lamb said he was still reviewing the complaint. He noted Lewis did not allege sexual harassment by any of the firm’s employees.

Instead, the complaint claims wrongful termination, retaliation and discrimination. It states that Lewis informed her supervisor that she had signed the Oct. 17 letter, also signed by more than 140 other women in the Capitol community. Lewis also said she told the firm’s management that she had been sexually harassed by Wilke Fleury clients.

“Some incidents were mundane and some were traumatic,” Liberty said. “She felt compelled to tell them. These were her bosses.”

The supervisor, lobbyist Shannon Smith-Crowley, stated Lewis’ actions could cause “blow back” on the firm, according to the complaint. Lewis was then fired on Oct. 25 during a meeting with Smith-Crowley, Human Resources Director Kellie Narayan, and Managing Partner Stephen K. Marmaduke, says the complaint.

“Plaintiff had been given no negative work performance reviews” prior to her firing, according to the complaint.

Wilke Fleury does several types of legal and lobbying work, and includes an employment law practice.

According to the California Secretary of State’s website, its lobbying clients include the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the California chapter of the American Association of University Women.

Liberty noted that all 13 Wilke Fleury partners are men.

Lewis, 33, has a LinkedIn page that says she is a student at Sacramento’s McGeorge School of Law.

The complaint was part of flurry of activity around sexual harassment as the Legislature returns to session. Liberty has also filed a discrimination complaint with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing against the state Senate and Sen. Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia.

Liberty is representing Adriana Ruelas, Mendoza’s former legislative director. Ruelas claimed she was fired last year after alerting the Senate Rules Committee that Mendoza was sexually harassing a 23-year-old intern in the office.

Liberty’s office sent intent to sue letters last week to Mendoza, the Senate, Senate Human Resources Director Jeannie Oropeza and Secretary of the Senate Daniel Alvarez.

Sen. Andy Vidak, R-Hanford, meanwhile, has introduced Senate Resolution 69, calling on the Legislature to expel Mendoza. In a press release on his website, Vidak cited efforts Democrats in the Legislature made in 2014 to protect three Democratic senators facing criminal charges.

Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de León, D-Los Angeles, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, announced Wednesday the creation of the Joint Committee on Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response.

The committee, which has seven female legislators and one man, will look at issues like creating a safe reporting system for harassment, according to a press release.

Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, has also introduced a bill that would ban secret settlements in sexual harassment cases. SB 820 is sponsored by the California Women’s Law Center, and was immediately endorsed by the Consumer Attorneys of California.