A Mission assistant city manager is currently on probation, despite a recommendation of harsher disciplinary action, after another employee filed a grievance against her alleging a hostile work environment.
Assistant City Attorney Aida Lerma was placed on six months of probation and suspended without pay for five days in October after the city’s events manager filed a grievance against Lerma in September.
In an email dated Sept. 19, Events Manager Amy Tijerina complained of at least seven instances in which Lerma had “berated” and “humiliated” her in public settings and in front of other city staff, with one example being during an outdoor event in March.
Tijerina said she moved the table and chairs underneath a canopy due to the 104-degree weather. However, she says Lerma came to her and began to yell at her in front of everyone, instructing her to move the table and chairs back.
In another instance in January, Tijerina said Lerma screamed at her as they prepared for the Mayor’s International Brunch when Tijerina attempted to straighten some documents for Lerma.
“…she yelled at me, ‘NO, do not touch my stuff! Don’t touch it. Leave it alone, Amy,” Tijerina wrote.
“I felt so humiliated and embarrassed in front of my co-workers,” she said. “I was only trying to help.”
Tijerina also alleged that Lerma had her perform personal favors for her during work hours.
Specifically, Tijerina said Lerma asked her to pick out a purse that would serve as a gift for the secretary of Lerma’s husband, Jesse Lerma, the Mission civil service director.
Tijerina said she proceeded to do so because she felt obligated because Lerma was the assistant city manager.
“I also felt I should do this because maybe she would ease up on me and treat me better since I was trying to keep the relationship as cordial as possible,” Tijerina added. “I have tried to be good to her and get along with her, but the scolding and the yelling continue.”
Additionally, she said Lerma asked her to arrange tables at the Greater Mission Chamber of Commerce conference room for her nephew’s post-funeral lunch and, several months later, Lerma asked her to obtain shirts for the funeral of her niece’s mother.
One instance occurred just two weeks after Tijerina started working as the events manager on Nov. 19, 2021.
Tijerina said Lerma asked her to take a half day to help her plan a party for her friend’s daughter. The report of the grievance noted that Lerma used a work email to discuss the party including T-shirts for the event.
That day, Tijerina helped Lerma from noon to 9 p.m. with decorating, setting up a candy bar and fixing tables.
In the ensuing investigation, Tijerina confirmed to Deputy City Attorney Esther Peña that she clocked out at 2:43 p.m. that day and Lerma was supposed to give her compensatory hours but did not. Lerma allegedly gave Tijerina a “thank you” note and $50 in cash to compensate her for this even though Tijerina didn’t ask for money.
Tijerina told Peña that since she had just started at her job, she felt like she could not refuse Lerma.
Overall, Tijerina said Lerma created a work environment that negatively affected her state of mind and her productivity.
“I try my best to make her happy and be a team player. I never say no. But this environment is intolerable,” Tijerina wrote in the email. “She does not respect my position. I cannot figure out how to approach this anymore. She is nice one minute and everything is amicable and the next minute she explodes for no reason.”
As part of the investigation, Lerma and Tijerina were interviewed separately by Peña, City Manager Randy Perez, HR Director Noemi Munguia, and Patricia Flores, a paralegal.
During her interview, Lerma contested Tijerina’s version of events, specifically questioning what constituted yelling when asked about the incident during the Mayor’s International Brunch.
“Again, I’m not I’m not yelling, what? Describe yelling what is yelling? Like? What is yelling?” Lerma said, according to the transcript of the interview.
However, four of seven of the yelling incidents were corroborated by other employees who were present, according to Peña’s findings.
Several of the allegations were sustained while some could not be definitively corroborated.
“The allegations presented in this grievance were serious, and even more serious since the alleged subject is an Assistant City Manager,” the attorney wrote in the report.
The claims of personal favors for Lerma were also substantiated.
“It is in my legal opinion that Ms. Lerma’s actions created a hostile work environment for Ms. Tijerina,” Peña wrote, noting that Tijerina had provided documentation from her doctor that indicated she was experiencing anxiety, distress, and heart palpitations for which she was placed on medical leave for three days.
“When an employee is causing this much distress on another employee, it is incumbent on the City to ensure that this behavior stop immediately,” Peña said.
Further, Peña specifically highlighted the requests for personal favors as the most legally severe.
“Under no circumstances shall an employee ask another employee to perform personal favors for them off the clock but especially during work hours,” Peña wrote. “Tax payer money should not be spent paying an employee on the clock while doing personal favors.”
The attorney also said there had been “several other grievances” that had been filed against Lerma making similar allegations of her yelling, belittling, or otherwise undermining an employee’s position. However, those grievances were not a part of this investigation.
Peña concluded by issuing an opinion that Lerma should be demoted into a position without any supervisory authority along with a change in pay grade or that Lerma be dismissed as the assistant city manager.
The city, though, opted to do neither.
Perez, the city manager, notified Lerma via email on Oct. 21 that he had suspended her for five days — from Oct. 24 through Oct. 27 and on Oct. 31 — without pay.
He added that with the city’s HR department, he had developed an “Individual Development Plan” to help her correct areas of concern.
“The results of your participation in the plan will be reviewed in six months,” Perez wrote. “Your continued employment in your current position is conditioned on your compliance with the plan and adequate progress in those areas indicated in the plan.”
A request to interview Perez about the grievance was denied, with the city only commenting: “The City of Mission does not comment on personnel matters.”
When reached for comment, Lerma issued a statement expressing contrition.
“In retrospect, I have realized that as a leader I must be cognizant of the different needs and personalities of the many employees that I am responsible to direct and make better choices in how I address them,” Lerma’s statement read in part.
“I have committed to making changes in my leadership style that will promote a healthy and productive work environment for all employees and will address them with the respect and the professionalism that they each deserve,” she added. “I have accepted responsibility for my actions and the consequences thereof.”
