Paralegal’s psychiatrist testifies in suit against in-house lawyer

LOS ANGELES -- A paralegal was so anxious and depressed over being sexually harassed by an in-house lawyer at Fidelity National Management Services LLC she required an extended leave from work, her psychiatrist testified Tuesday.

Soledad Albarracin alleges in her lawsuit that Robert Gardner Wilson followed her to her hotel room during a company trip to Colorado Springs, Colorado, propositioned and tried to kiss her. Her complaint accuses Fidelity of doing nothing when she reported the incident and then firing her in retaliation. Albarracin v. Wilson et al., BC642922 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 6, 2017).

Albarracin said she requested a desk away from Wilson and a leave from work because of stress brought on by the alleged harassment. When she sought psychiatric treatment, Dr. Miguel Arias determined she needed to get away from the office and recommended eight weeks leave, he testified. He later extended that recommended leave.

"It was taking her out of work. It was putting some distance between her and her ongoing stressor," Arias testified under questioning by Mike Arias of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos LLP, who represents Albarracin. The attorney and the psychiatrist are not related.

The psychiatrist testified that when he treated Albarracin, she was on two medications he knew of to treat anxiety, trembling and depression. He said his diagnosis was consistent with the opinions of Albarracin's therapist and primary care physician, both of whom found her to be abnormally anxious and depressive.

Under cross-examination by Jessica C. Gregg of Jackson Lewis PC, who represents Wilson and Fidelity, Arias testified he was unaware of two other medications Albarracin was taking and that either of those drugs could themselves cause anxiety and trembling. He also said that he did not conduct tests to rule out those drugs as the cause of her symptoms.

When Gregg showed Arias two documents with different accounts of Albarracin's story, one in which she described her aggressor as a paralegal and as a lawyer in the other, he called it an "error" rather than an inconsistency.

Later in the morning, Karen Harper, Fidelity's director of corporate human resources, resumed testifying about her investigation into the allegations. She began testimony on Friday.

Questioned by Griselda S. Rodriguez of Rodriguez & Tran LLP, who also represents Albarracin, Harper said she did not take statements from co-workers or a supervisor to whom Albarracin described the incident, because they were not direct witnesses.

Rodriguez asked Harper if she believed Albarracin. "I'm a third party, I try to play the middle," Harper responded. She denied she "just didn't want to deal with [Albarracin]" and her complaints.

Under examination by Henry L. Sanchez, who leads the team representing the defendants, Harper said she questioned staff in the office about allegations similar to Albarracin's around the same time she made hers and found no evidence of bad conduct. The similar allegations were made by a temporary employee, Linda Hudson, who testified last week that Wilson harassed her.

Harper testified that Albarracin did not respond to messages from human resources related to her leave and the alleged incident, and that she was not eligible for leave beyond what the company had already granted, since she was employed there for less than a year.

James Duncan, who managed the Los Angeles office where Albarracin and Wilson worked, testified, as did Harper, that Albarracin's job performance was substandard. Their testimony about leave and the proper channels for investigation were echoed by a reading from the deposition of Albarracin's direct human resources contact while she worked at Fidelity.

The trial is presided over by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha P. Jessner. It is expected to conclude this week.