A former San Diego Unified administrator who alleged she was demoted in retaliation for rejecting sexual advances by the district’s former superintendent, Lamont Jackson, sued both the district and Jackson on Monday.
The lawsuit filed in San Diego Superior Court by former district area superintendent Monika Hazel elaborates upon quid pro quo sexual harassment allegations against Jackson that she had outlined in July, when her attorney filed a legal claim for damages to the district as a precursor to filing a lawsuit.
District spokesperson James Canning said Tuesday evening that the district has not yet been served with Hazel’s lawsuit.
“Our counsel needs to review the lawsuit, and upon that review will take the appropriate actions required to protect the district’s best interest,” Canning said in an email.
In a September interview, Jackson had said he “emphatically” denies the allegations of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment against him. He could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.
The San Diego Unified School Board fired Jackson in August after it found that allegations of misconduct by Jackson posed by Hazel and another former district administrator, Tavga Bustani, were credible.
Both Hazel and Bustani alleged in legal claims to the district this summer that Jackson had dangled prospects of promotion while making inappropriate sexual comments to them, which they said constituted quid pro quo sexual harassment. Then, they said they were demoted after they rejected his advances.
School board members said they had commissioned an outside law firm to investigate Hazel’s and Bustani’s claims as soon as they first heard of them in April. The firm also ended up investigating more allegations against Jackson, including claims of cronyism — which he has also denied — that had been previously submitted to the district; the firm did not find those additional allegations to be substantiated. The investigation concluded in August.
Records requested by the Union-Tribune revealed that district management, including its general counsel, had failed to notify the school board of a series of misconduct allegations against Jackson, including a different investigation of Jackson that dated back two years. Board trustees told the Union-Tribune they had not been notified of prior allegations against Jackson until after they fired him in September, as the district was releasing public records to journalists about them.
Hazel’s lawsuit includes some details that weren’t in her original claim, including quotes of comments she alleges Jackson said to her.
For example, the lawsuit alleges Jackson invited Hazel to have “no strings sex” with him at his house when his wife wasn’t home; made sexually suggestive comments to her, such as referring to himself as a “player” and saying he was “very bad”; and made sexual gestures, such as allegedly pretending to spank and have sex with a woman.
Hazel alleges she was demoted when she rejected a quid pro quo proposition by Jackson in December 2022, as Jackson was working on a reorganization of district administration.
The lawsuit alleges Jackson had suggested they go walk on Mission Bay, and they stopped at a hotel there for drinks. There, she alleges Jackson said he envisioned her being on the executive team and promised he would “always protect” her; then, he allegedly suggested they check into the hotel together.
Hazel said she denied his invitation, and a month later, she was told she would be demoted to classroom teacher with a large pay cut, according to the lawsuit. As the breadwinner for her family, Hazel said the demotion forced her to leave the district for another job.
Hazel’s lawsuit also reiterates her allegations against San Diego Unified’s current interim Superintendent Fabiola Bagula, who was Jackson’s No. 2 and has taken over leading the district since he was fired. Hazel accused Bagula of inappropriate behavior, including allegedly telling Hazel to cower and use a baby girl voice and making a comment at work that Bagula was “White-womaned” by another person.
Bagula has said that the district’s third-party investigation found that she had not mistreated any employees, but she apologized for the “White-womaned” comment. Board trustees have said that Bagula remains the best person for the interim superintendent position.
