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Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Suit Claims Boss Harassed Teen
By Vic Vela
Journal Staff Writer
A former employee of a Santa Fe Quizno's — who was 15 at the time she was hired — has filed a lawsuit alleging that she was "repeatedly subjected to pervasive sexual harassment" by her female supervisor, according to court documents.
Included in the 13-page lawsuit are what Nicole Ariana Parker claims are transcripts of sexually charged text messages sent to her cell phone from her former boss, Roberta Spratt, that detail an alleged infatuation with the girl.
Parker also claims that she was wrongfully terminated by store owner Ron Churchill after she notified him of the alleged sexual harassment, according to the lawsuit filed by attorney Merit Bennett in state District Court earlier this week.
Spratt and Churchill Enterprises, doing business as Quizno's Classic Subs, are named as defendants in the lawsuit. Churchill was unavailable for comment Friday. Attempts by the Journal to reach Spratt were unsuccessful.
Some of the alleged messages sent to Parker — whose current age is unknown, but must be a legal adult because a parent is not listed as a representative in the lawsuit — include come-ons from Spratt that read: "I want to make out with you;" "I rub your back for two dolla(r); "I do love you;" "Make out with me you so (expletive) sexy!"
Many of the text messages were misspelled and did not contain proper punctuation.
According to the lawsuit:
The girl began work at the Quizno's at 3517 Zafarano Dr. in the winter of 2006.
"After Ms. Parker was hired, her direct supervisor, Ms. Spratt, immediately attempted to cultivate an inappropriate sexual relationship with Ms. Parker and would frequently invite Ms. Parker to come over to Ms. Spratt's house."
On March 25, 2007, Spratt texted the girl a message that said, "Dude, let's make out." This made the girl "feel incredibly uncomfortable," according to the filing. Spratt sent a text to Parker in October that said, "Smile I miss you at work. Its not the same," after she missed a few days of work.
"This was the beginning of a long line of text messages sexually harassing (the girl)," the filing states.
During October and November 2007, the intensity of Spratt's feelings for Parker increased, according to the alleged text messages.
On one day in October, Spratt sent text messages that included: "I do wanna back rub I will smoke you down and rub your back I am so board;" "No really I really wanna make out with you! And yeah you are special to me. There is just something about you that I just cant stop caring for."
On Oct. 14, 2007, Spratt sent Parker a message that stated, "So really will you make out with me seriously no one will know. I promise."
Eight days later, Spratt "became increasingly aggressive and threatening about her pursuit of Ms. Parker," according to the lawsuit. Spratt again texted the girl: "Me feelings I have for you are like no other and I am the kind of person who does not wanna get hurt and it hurts."
Parker — a year older at this point than when she first started working there — ultimately texted Spratt back, saying to her, "I'm sixteen years old; I'm not like that; I just want to stay friends; I'm not that way; You shouldn't tell me these things."
Parker claims Spratt became upset when she rejected her advances and threatened to tell store owner Ron Churchill that Parker's work performance was poor. When Parker called Churchill to tell him about Spratt's alleged conduct, the owner said he would "talk to Ms. Spratt and 'calm her down.' "
"Instead, Mr. Churchill told Ms. Spratt that Ms. Parker had complained about her," the lawsuit states. "Ms. Spratt immediately called Ms. Parker and yelled at her, 'You stepped over my feet and called Ron.' "
Shortly after Parker told Churchill that she did not want to be scheduled with Spratt any longer, Churchill on Dec. 3, 2007, fired the girl and left her a voice mail.
"Nikki, you're not scheduled, baby," Churchill allegedly said. "This is goofy. I wish you were there, instead. We're partin' companies, baby. I just want to thank you for everything you have done. Have a good one."
In addition to the alleged sexual harassment, and wrongful termination, Parker claims she suffered emotional distress and is suing for an unspecified amount.
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