PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

A Levittown resident who worked for 11 years as a custodian for Bucks

County Community College, and served as the first female shop steward to be employed by the school, is suing the educational institution over claims that she was fired because she complained about discriminatory treatment.

Felice Immordino, 58, who is suing the college in federal court, claims that during her decade-plus employment with the school she experienced a hostile work environment due to her gender.

The woman claims her coworkers would regularly treat her in a “rude and condescending manner, speak to her abruptly, verbally attack her, question her mental health condition, ignore her efforts to file grievances (which was part of her shop steward duties), selectively enforce policies against her, and deny her overtime.”

The complaint says that Mark Grisi, the school’s director and a co-defendant in the civil suit, in the spring of 2012 became extremely hostile toward the plaintiff, kicked her out of his office, suspended her without pay and mandated that she undergo counseling based upon the school’s “perception of her mental health condition,” all because she attempted to file a grievance on behalf of one of the defendant’s employees.

In June 2012, the record shows, the plaintiff filed a charge of discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against the school asserting that she was being discriminated against because of her gender and the defendant’s perception of her mental health condition.

Soon after filing her complaint, Immordino was subjected to increased animosity and hostility by the school’s management, including Grisi.

Grisi in particular made the woman’s job duties more difficult, the lawsuit states, by repeatedly harassing her, moving her around to different positions, and closely scrutinizing her job performance.

Immordino, the complaint says, continued to complaint to management about the discriminatory and retaliatory treatment, but the allegations were never properly investigated or resolved.

She was then terminated from her job for what the suit calls “pretextual reasons,” which were that the plaintiff was allegedly sleeping on the job.

The plaintiff accuses the college of violating the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act.

Immordino seeks declaratory and injunctive relief as well as back pay, future pay, lost benefits and other legal relief.

The lawsuit was filed on March 24 at the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Bensalem, Pa. attorney Ari R. Karpf.

 

The federal case number is 2:14-cv-01736-SD.