Johns Hopkins University Sunday was seeking dismissal of a Southland woman’s lawsuit in which she contends she was forced to resign from her job as a California-based grants and contracts coordinator for the prestigious Maryland educational institution in 2022 due to harassment by her supervisor.
In court papers filed Oct. 24 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Tiana J. Murillo in advance of a Feb. 11 hearing, university attorneys say Lucia Beltre’s case should have been filed in the Baltimore Circuit Court and that service will be accepted there if she chooses to do so.
“It is in both the private and public interests to transfer this employment dispute to Maryland, as plaintiff applied for and agreed to work for Johns Hopkins at its Maryland campus,” the private research university attorneys contend in their pleadings, adding that Beltre knew that the position for which she applied required her to work on John Hopkins’ Maryland campus.
Beltre was hired as a grants and contracts coordinator in the Anthropology Department in early 2022. She caught the coronavirus with bronchitis in March of that year and her symptoms included painful coughing, body aches, headaches and fevers, according to the suit, which further states that her pulmonologist said she would need three months to recover.
While on medical leave, the university supervisor to whom Beltre reported accused her of making up her illness to get out of work commitments, the suit states. The supervisor also berated her for having a side job even though it did not violate Johns Hopkins policy, according to the complaint filed June 20.
Beltre also found it offensive that the supervisor referred to her as a “girl,” the suit states. Beltre asked human resources for an accommodation with a job transfer but was told the same supervisor would have to cooperate and approve it, the suit states. When asked by Beltre for his approval, the supervisor refused the accommodation and told her to resign, the suit alleges.
Beltre, feeling her concerns were being ignored and still feeling the effects of the coronavirus, resigned in April 2022, the suit states.
But in their court papers, university attorneys state that Johns Hopkins granted the plaintiff two extensions to come to the campus in order to allow her enough time to recuperate, but she refused to go to Maryland, failed to fill out the paperwork required for her accommodation request and after months of delays chose to quit.