Former Sacramento city employee sues city, alleging security guard sexually harassed her

A former Sacramento city employee is suing the city, alleging that a security guard sexually harassed her, setting off a chain of events that left her with a concussion in a City Hall elevator.

Barbara McIntyre worked on the second floor of City Hall as a traffic investigator in the building department, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Sacramento Superior Court. The women’s restroom required employees to have an ID to enter, while the men’s restroom did not.

The lawsuit alleges that every time McIntyre entered the restroom, a male security guard came in and began banging on the stall door.

As a result of the repeated interruptions, McIntyre suffered from recurring urinary tract infections and other ailments, the lawsuit states.

When asked by McIntyre’s supervisor, an Allied Universal manager said the visits were “plumbing checks,” the lawsuit says. In May 2023, McIntyre contacted the city’s Equal Employment Opportunity Office to further investigate the sexual harassment. She claimed she had complained about the issue multiple times over the years and the city never addressed it.

The city’s EEO office dropped the complaint in June 2023, the lawsuit says. The problem persisted, and in November McIntyre filed a complaint with the federal EEOC and the state’s Civil Rights Office. Those agencies issued McIntyre a “standing to sue” notice. But the city’s EEO office again closed the case.

In December, McIntyre began using the women’s restroom on the ground floor, which did not require an ID to enter, instead of the one on the second floor next to her office. On Dec. 8, she suffered a concussion on the way to her desk when she became stuck in the elevator, the lawsuit says.

“The elevator malfunctioned and crashed twice to the first floor after ascending toward the second floor,” the lawsuit states.

After the injury, McIntyre was on sick leave for 10 weeks, the lawsuit says. The city required her to use her vacation and sick days instead of putting her on work injury leave.

City spokesman Tim Swanson declined to comment because the city has not yet received the complaint. The city still has contracts with Allied and will pay up to $27 million for a five-year contract that expires in August 2025.

Allied Universal did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Monday.

Because of these problems, McIntyre resigned from his position in February, the lawsuit says.

In her lawsuit, she alleges retaliation against the whistleblower, a violation of California labor law.