Fired worker sues college

A former Yuba College theater worker contends in a discrimination lawsuit that storage practices led to fire hazards and that some theater rigging was unsafe — assertions the college disputes.

Yuba City resident Nancie Greene, 45, is suing for what she terms her wrongful firing last August.

College spokeswoman Miriam Root said Wednesday the district doesn't comment on personnel matters. But Root declared "the theater is a safe environment."

Greene's lawyer, Sean Gavin, declined to comment, as did Greene.

The suit, filed recently in Sacramento County Superior Court, says Greene suffers from Arnold Chiari Malformation, a congenital malformation of the brain, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder caused by defective collagen synthesis that affects joints.

Greene, who began working for the college in 1989 while a student and was hired as a staff member in 2004, contends she alerted the district to her physical limitations that required help from maintenance personnel but that no such assistance was provided.

She had surgery in 2005 in New York. After Greene returned to work, she was "subjected to discrimination, harassment and ridicule by (Yuba College) management and supervisory personnel," according to the suit.

The suit said college officials fired her and "warned that she was a 'liability' and instructed not to return to the theater campus under any circumstances, not even to collect her belongings."

College district officials also ignored her concerns about theater rigging and storage practices, according to the lawsuit.

The suit alleged that "some theater rigging was unsafe and potentially hazardous. (Greene) also observed multiple instances of poor planning and storage practices that led to fire hazards. Furthermore, she and others began to be affected by mold that had been allowed to accumulate and fester inside the theater building." Greene "raised her concerns about these problems to (college) management personnel multiple times, but was ignored," the suit said.

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter Ryan McCarthy at 749-4707 or rmccarthy@appealdemocrat.com