A lawsuit filed against the San Diego Unified School District and its former superintendent, Lamont Jackson, claims repeated sexual harassment and retaliatory demotion by Jackson, as reported by Times of San Diego. The complainant, Monika Hazel, a former area superintendent with SDUSD and now the leader of Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, alleges that Jackson's harassing behavior started shortly after he took the superintendent role in early 2022.
According to 10News, the lawsuit suggests that Hazel faced not only harassment from Jackson but also endured a demotion and salary cut as a consequence of rejecting his advances. The reduction and resulting stress, along with a hostile environment, effectively forced her out of the district Hazel maintains in her filing, citing unbearable work conditions. SDUSD responded to the claims late Tuesday, stating, "We have not yet been served. Our counsel needs to review the lawsuit, and upon that review will take the appropriate actions required to protect the district's best interest." as written in the Times of San Diego coverage.
Further complicating the matter, the lawsuit alleges post-termination discrimination by then-deputy and now-acting superintendent Fabiola Bagula, who is accused of misconduct toward Hazel. Bagula purportedly coerced Hazel to "cower," "bow [her] head," and use a "baby girl voice" when speaking up, a treatment that Hazel found "unprofessional and humiliating," per the 10News report. Additionally, Hazel and Bagula were referred to as Jackson's "work wives," a term he used that is beset with troubling connotations touching on possession and a blurring of professional boundaries.
The case follows Jackson's dismissal by the SDUSD Board of Education after a separate ethics investigation corroborated "credible" allegations of sexual harassment towards two former employees, one of which Hazel confirms she was the SDUSD has promised to address the lawsuit accordingly to shield its interests the complaint represents yet another turn in the district's recent management upheavals, starting with Cindy Marten's departure in 2021, launching Jackson's interim and then full superintendent tenure until his termination two years later. Jackson was fired in August after the investigation into unethical behavior, as further explained in the Times of San Diego publication.
