A Westchester County school worker was forced to take semi-nude photos of her female high school principal on her cell phone and was asked to store it along with other illicit content like images of penis etc, according to a federal lawsuit filed this month. Gisselle Vasquez, a 35-year-old mom of a six year old, was a secretary for Principal Evelina Medina, 42, at the Robert C. Dodson School on May 24, 2018, when the allegations started, according to the suit.
However, the school district didn't take any action for a long time despite several similar complaints from other workers. Instead, the Yonkers school superintendent, Edwin Quezada, continued to overlook things and defended the principal, according to a New York Post report.
Horrifying Experience
According to Vasquez and her attorney, Medina forced her to take a series of her raunchy snaps in thongs and then asked her to store those snaps in her phone. This is because Medina wanted to hide those snaps from her husband and save them for her lover.
On May 24, 2018, Medina texted Vasquez a photo of a man lying in bed in his underwear and asked her to save that photo for her, according to the lawsuit. The next day, the principal gave Vasquez her phone and asked her to take a photo of her. She "then proceeded to lower her pants to her ankles, turned around and exposed her buttocks in thong underwear and posed," the lawsuit says.
Vasquez was shocked but she then feared losing her job and decided to take the photo. "She hands me the phone and says, 'Close the door,'" Vasquez told The New York Post. "When I looked back her pants were already down. I was shocked. I didn't know what to think. I really just froze. I worried that if I just left her office there could be a student or employee or anyone there. Her office is in the main office and there is a lot of traffic," Vasquez told the outlet.
Medina then texted the bare-butt image to Vasquez's cell phone and asked her if could help "edit" them, the lawsuit says. "She wanted to smooth out the dimples ... her cellulite," Vasquez said.
However, it wasn't over. A few days later, Medina again sent Vasquez another sex shot this time of a man lying in bed holding his erect penis, the complaint alleges. Medina "instructed" Vasquez to save that photo for her too.
Principal or Sex Addict
The lawsuit says that on multiple occasions, Medina made comments about her lover's penis size and how it satisfied her more despite being smaller than her husband's penis size, the lawsuit says. Besides, the principal on several occasions showed Vasquez her iPhone and told her to read the XXX-rated sexts she and her lover had exchanged.
"Medina used my client as her own personal drop-box to keep the sexy pictures away from her [Medina's] husband," said attorney Christopher Berlingieri. "Due to the serious nature of the sexual harassment here, we felt that there was no other option but to bring a civil action."
Medina is no longer principal at the school but the school district wouldn't detail the circumstances of her leaving her post. It's unclear if she's still employed with the district. The district told the outlet it wouldn't comment on "pending litigation."
That said, Vasquez still doesn't know why Medina used to show her those raunchy snaps and X-rated text messages. "I don't know why she wanted me to read it. Maybe she didn't have friends or family to confide in?" Vasquez said. "I don't know why she thought it was OK. Maybe because she thought I was just her secretary and I wasn't going to say or do anything."
Vasquez finally complained to a supervising clerk "about inappropriate things going on to Quezada. However, that didn't help. Rather than set up a meeting, [the supervisor] merely responded to just put in a request for transfer," the complaint says.
On Aug. 9, Vasquez did just that, but "received no response" from HR, the suit says. Instead, Vasquez was then allegedly subject to sexual harassment by two assistant principals, Sandra Guzman and Christopher Cassano, according to the lawsuit.
Guzman said, 'You don't really look like a sexual person' and asked her, "How many times a week do you have sex? Around March 2019, Cassano allegedly asked Vasquez how many times she says sex and forcibly kissed her multiple times.
This time Vasquez again complained to the HR and talked to the superintendent, who allegedly said, "Thank you," the lawsuit says.
Fed up of all these, she decided to file a lawsuit as she wanted to expose the principal and also the school district. During the pandemic, she requested a medical accommodations because she suffers from asthma, a heart murmur and anxiety and attached a doctor's note, but the school denied it, according to the lawsuit. Vasquez is out on family leave as of now, the outlet reported.
