After complaints of sexual harassment, the director of the Guadalajara Red Cross is dismissed

1017

After two workers filed formal complaints against the former director of the Guadalajara Red Cross, José Luis Sepúlveda for alleged sexual harassment, he was already removed from his position.

According to Dr. Ricardo Almeida, legal advisor to the Red Cross, it was a nurse and a social worker, who came forward on April 13th, to present their complaint at the Center for Justice for Women and the State Prosecutor’s Office in the Investigation Unit on Crimes against Women and Crimes based on Gender.

“What did the institution do when it found out about this?

“The council gave us the instruction to liquidate the doctor we had hired. The day after we received the information from the prosecutor’s office, we reported that we were firing him. Of course, we do not know what the truth of the facts is because that is up to the Public Ministry to determine, ”stated Dr. Ricardo Almeida.

Regarding whether there are more cases of sexual harassment, Ricardo Almeida assured that so far they are the only complaints that have been filed, however, he called on the personnel working in the Red Cross to raise their voice in case of having been victims.

He added that there is a protocol for sexual harassment but there was never a need to apply it since no complaints have ever benn filed before.

“We have several channels for complaints to reach us (even anonymous ones) through a mailbox, but this is the first time we encounter a situation of this kind, “he added.

He indicated that the victims no longer showed up for work after filing their complaint, and denied that they had been fired and in case they need any kind of help, the Red Cross is in the best disposition to help them.

“We have a psychology department and we would give them access to psychological and legal treatment, we would give them all the support they need before the Prosecutor’s Office,” he said.

On the other hand, he acknowledged that at least six employees were fired during the management of the former director of the Guadalajara Red Cross. According to him, the reasons were for having been incompetent in the line of work.”

Source: MILENIO

The Guadalajara Post