Paralegal testifies in tears against former supervisor

LOS ANGELES -- Through tears, a paralegal told a jury Wednesday that an in-house lawyer at Fidelity National Management Services LLC sexually propositioned her on a company retreat and that the company did nothing after she reported the allegation.

Soledad Albarracin, who has testified that she now works for an unidentified law firm, is suing now-retired attorney Robert Gardner Wilson, and their former employer, alleging Wilson followed her to her room at the retreat in Colorado Springs, Colorado, propositioned and tried to kiss her. The suit also accuses the company of failing to investigate the allegations and instead firing her in retaliation.

The defense has argued she was an underperforming employee of less than a year trying to preserve her job, that the incident was the result of a misunderstanding, if anything did happen, and that she did not follow appropriate channels to obtain personal leave afterward, which led to her firing.

In her late-morning testimony, a distraught Albarracin described the incident through tears to an rapt courtroom, her story interrupted only by a single hearsay objection and propelled forward by the patient questioning of her attorney, Griselda S. Rodriguez of Rodriguez & Tran LLP.

Albarracin is also represented by Mike Arias of Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Torrijos LLP, though Rodriguez conducted all examination on Wednesday.

Albarracin said Wilson followed her up to her room and made repeated passes at her before she pushed him back toward his room, which was next to hers. She said she could not sleep, and texted her boyfriend about it rather than calling because she feared Wilson would hear her.

"I spent the whole night thinking that all I have between me and this man that assaulted me is this wall," she said.

She said Wilson always seemed to be near her throughout the remainder of the trip, sitting at the same lunch table, and seated next to her for drinks, and lurking nearby in a hiking group.

The defense has rejected that narrative in the past, pointing out they were on the same company trip and would obviously be near one another. During her testimony, she rejected that argument.

"Everywhere we went it just turned out that Mr. Wilson was always next to me or very close to me.... He didn't have to be one of those three, four, or five people that were right by me," she said.

Under cross-examination by Henry L. Sanchez of Jackson Lewis PC, who represents Fidelity and Wilson, Albarracin acknowledged Wilson did not flirt with her or even directly interact with her for the remainder of the trip, and that she had no issues with him prior to the trip.

Sanchez also presented evidence that showed varying, escalating descriptions of the event, with phrasing ranging from Wilson trying to kiss her to calling it an "attack."

Albarracin told Rodriguez during redirect examination that the inconsistencies are because some evidence was written by her therapist, and represents that person's interpretation of her story in sessions, rather than her verbatim wording.

Albarracin said she reported the incident to Joseph Tucker, the director of the company division in which she and Wilson worked, and said he told her he would look into it. Later, she said, he told her she would have to work with Wilson and more could be done about her complaint if she had stronger evidence.

Tucker testified last week that he did everything he could.

When Albarracin stepped down from the stand for the midday break, she hugged her son. He observed the day's events from the gallery, seated directly across the aisle from Wilson.

Albarracin testified she filled out everything Fidelity sent her regarding her leave, but the defense has argued her medical note from a psychiatrist was not enough to finalize the leave, that she stayed out past a predetermined date, and did not clear further medically recommended leave. She was also ineligible for legally protected absence since she worked at the company for less than a year.

After lunch, Albarracin testified that since the Colorado Springs trip, she experienced intense anxiety and panic attacks which led to her personal leave from work until her termination. She also said she was more distrustful of men.

Sanchez also questioned Albarracin about dishonesty on her job application to Fidelity, on which she did not disclose she had attended law school, and the fact she was being treated for anxiety, stress, and memory loss well before the Colorado trip. She insisted that her prior anxiety was nothing like what she experienced after the alleged incident.

She also testified that she did not include law school on the application because it was not a job requirement, and she was "embarrassed" to be working as a paralegal with a degree.

The trial in front of Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha P. Jessner is expected to conclude Thursday, the same day the defense will begin its case.