Fresno State manager chooses retirement over harassment, she says. Her lawsuit is pending

A Fresno State manager who has a workplace harassment lawsuit pending against the California State University board of trustees and state resigned this week, saying years of alleged abuse and bullying have taken too great a toll on her health.

Calliope Correia, who managed the horticultural nursery on the campus farm, said in a complaint filed in Fresno County Superior Court in February that she has endured harassment and retaliation because of her gender and because she is a lesbian. Correia also said that her multiple complaints to the university’s human resources department and Title IX office were ignored or not investigated properly.

“It definitely wasn’t in my plans; I was going to stay there forever,” Correia told The Bee. “I’ve been there for 16 years and that was my job for life.

“Over the last couple of years, every time something happens, it’s just that build up of: ‘This is never going to end, and what do I do? I can’t continue to work like this. I can’t continue to be in this environment.’ ”

In the lawsuit, Correia makes allegations of harassment by several Fresno State employees, including John Bushoven, chair of the department of Plant Science. Correia also filed Title IX complaints against Bushoven and Dennis Nef, former dean of the Jordan College of Agricultural Sciences.

Bushoven, Nef and associate vice president of human resources Marylou Mendoza-Miller, who was also named in the complaint, did not respond to requests for comment sent on Tuesday to their university email addresses.

The lawsuit also says that allegations against Correia of poor work performance were determined to be unfounded by her supervisor and she did not receive any discipline or corrective action.

The civil complaint, which seeks $750,000, is one of several pending suits against the CSU board related to workplace harassment issues. The cases are being litigated as Fresno State and CSU system look to rebuild trust with alumni and the larger public over the botched handling of several highly-publicized sexual harassment lawsuits over the past decade.

Fresno State, CSU must repair broken trust, experts say

The CSU board is a defendant in at least two other lawsuits, one from a Fresno State employee and the other from a former student.

A law firm retained by the CSU board to assess its Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation programs found that Fresno State lacked the necessary infrastructure to respond appropriately to complaints and concluded that the university and the CSU system must now take steps to repair broken trust with the public.

The California State Auditor in a report requested by the Joint Legislative Audit Committee also said some sexual harassment claims it reviewed at Fresno State, San Jose State University and Sonoma State University were not adequately or consistently addressed.