BY BRIAN HEWS
Hews Media Group-Los Cerritos Community News has exclusively obtained a lurid Government Code Complaint filed by Walther Medina against Montebello Unified School District Superintendent Dr. Anthony Martinez alleging sexual harassment, bribery, sexual assault and intimidation.
Medina and his attorney, Santa Monica-based Michael Freiman, also included the MUSD in the lawsuit even though Medina was an Adult Education student and not an employee of MUSD.
HMG-LCCN contacted Martinez who strongly denied the allegations, accusing Medina of setting him up, calling the relationship a private matter and indicated he was helping him out.
Sources are saying part of that help was assisting Medina, who is undocumented, with his citizenship.
MUSD attorney Rick Olivarez of Olivarez Madruga slammed Medina and his attorney, “At the time, Medina was not an employee of the district. There needs to be an employer-employee relationship for a sexual harassment cause of action, that did not exist here. Medina was an Adult Education student and it’s not even clear if he was still a student when the alleged harassment occurred. And how does a guy like Medina allow “harassment and unwanted touching” when he is twice the size and weight of Dr. Martinez? This is a bogus case, we will filing a summary judgement ASAP.”
In law, a summary judgment is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party without a full trial. Such a judgment may be issued on the merits of an entire case, or on discrete issues in that case.
The Claim was dated September 18, received by the MUSD on September 27.
According to sources, only texts were offered as evidence and “were not sensational texts,” nothing else, including photos, was included in the document to support the allegations.
The claim started, “Beginning in or around March, 2019, and continuing through the present, Montebello Unified School District Superintendent Anthony Martinez obtained Mr. Medina’s trust through promises of money, education (including through Montebello Unified School District), training, involvement in leadership programs…..secretly planning to exploit the trust provided by Medina in Martinez’s capacity of Superintendent of Montebello School District as a means of forcing him to engage in a sexual relationship in an unlawful quid pro quo.”
“Throughout Spring and Summer, 2019, Martinez subjected Claimant to romantic messages verbally and in writing, sexual discussion, taking pictures of Claimant, hugging Claimant, touching other parts of his body, and other unwelcomed sexual advances.”
“Following Claimant’s opposition to and complaints about Martinez’s unlawful behavior, Martinez retaliated against Claimant through a campaign of intimidation and harassment intended to exclude and silence Claimant including….showing up uninvited to Claimant’s place of work and discussing Claimant’s education, family, and other issues even after Claimant told Martinez he was not to go there. Repeatedly calling and text messaging Claimant even after Claimant stopped responding to all of Martinez’s messages and told Martinez to cease communicating with him.”
[This included] “sending Medina pictures of Medina in school district publications, sending Medina documents related to a scholarship made in Medina’s name, misrepresenting Martinez’s involvement in educational and leadership programs, making invasive statements regarding Claimant’s family, personal life and legal obligations, making statements regarding Claimant’s education at the school district, communicating with Claimant’s family members, and sending other unwelcome communication to or about Claimant to Claimant and other third parties directly and through social media, which has continued from August, 2019 to the present.”
“As a result of the aforementioned conduct, Claimant was forced to terminate his education within the Montebello School District. Claimant was subject to sexual assault, sexual harassment, harassment/discrimination on the basis of sex/gender/perceived sexual orientation, retaliation for his opposition to and complaints about the unlawful conduct, assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, misrepresentation, and other related claims based on the aforementioned conduct. Claimant suffered economic and non-economic damages including without limitation damage to Claimant’s education, lost past/future wages/benefits, damage to professional reputation, damage to earning capacity, emotional distress, shame, humiliation, embarrassment, mental suffering, attorney’s fees/costs, statutory penalties to the extent allowable by law, and will seek punitive damages to the extent allowable under law in an unlimited civil case.”
Calls into Medina’s attorney today for comment went unreturned.
