A former professor at the Community College of Denver filed a lawsuit against the school on Monday alleging that she was the victim of sexual harassment, which led to retaliation once she complained about it.

Jacqueline “Jackie” Carpio started work in 2004 at CCD as a business technology instructor. In summer 2017, she met with then-Dean James Kynor. Carpio alleges that she showed Kynor something on her phone related to a student, but that he saw a sexually-suggestive picture of her and her husband and made what she deemed to be a lewd comment. She related the incident to two other faculty members, and they told her to “let it go.”

Afterward, Carpio wrote, “Kynor increased his scrutiny of the Plaintiff, and began making the Plaintiff’s work more difficult, micromanaging her and accusing her of lying concerning the work of students and her job performance.”

In one contentious meeting about plagiarism accusations against a student, Kynor allegedly told her, “You are walking on shaky grounds” and “We will decide at some point if we even want you here.” 

Kynor, who is not named as a defendant, did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment. CCD president Everette J. Freeman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on behalf of the school.

Carpio went to the human resources department and complained about sexual harassment, retaliation and Kynor’s “control mechanisms,” but the school ultimately deemed that there was “no need for a formal civil rights or Title IX investigation.” 

After being put on a performance improvement plan, Carpio alleges that the chair of her department refused to meet with her about renewing her credential. She eventually had to submit her credentialing materials late.

“Every time she completed the certification process, the requirements changed and/or she was ignored and pushed around with no answer as to when she would receive it or what exactly needed to be completed in order to receive it,” Carpio wrote.

In the spring semester of 2019, she contacted the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission to submit a complaint of age and sex discrimination. CCD removed her from the class she was teaching and, in May, Freeman fired her. Carpio in her lawsuit is asking for a jury to determine damages.

The case is Jacqueline “Jackie” Carpio v. Community College of Denver, et al.

Carpio v. CCD