A woman won a round in court in her lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Whittier Catholic school, in which she alleges she was suspended and fired a day later in 2024 for complaining about what she believed to be inappropriate conduct by a vice principal toward some students.
Ashley Guereque’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit has causes of action for wrongful termination and a violation of the state Labor Code. On Friday, Judge Wendy Chang ordered the defendants to turn over some of the internal documents sought by Guereque’s attorneys and imposed $8,480 in sanctions to compensate the plaintiff for having to draft the motion, calling the amount of hours a Guereque lawyer spent on its preparation “more than reasonable.”
The archdiocese released a statement Saturday regarding the suit, saying it has not yet been served with the complaint and that no comment can be made at this time on its merits because it is a personnel matter and the archdiocese wants to assure the integrity of the legal proceedings.
According to her lawsuit, Guereque was hired as an instructional assistant in August 2023 and her job included making copies of course materials, supervising students during their lunch and recess and distributing papers. During her employment, Guereque allegedly became concerned about the conduct of a vice principal in her interactions with students.
In one instance, the vice principal, standing nearly six-feet tall, towered over a kindergarten student whom she pushed into a room, the suit states. Guereque looked through a window and saw the boy, then on the verge of tears, be jerked on one wrist, grabbed under his arms and lifted into the air to the vice principal’s face, where she screamed at the child, the suit states.
The vice principal then brought the boy back down to the floor, where he fell on his buttocks and hit his head, the suit states. The vice principal allegedly then grabbed the 4-year-old boy by one wrist and took him back to his classroom.
Guereque also saw the vice principal direct students to clean lunch tables with disinfectant wipes despite the manufacturer’s instructions to keep those wipes away from the students, some of whom also feared asking the vice principal for ketchup packets because she often yelled at them and said they should have gotten ketchup from home, the suit states.
The vice principal also restricted student access to restrooms by locking doors or standing in front of them and telling the pupils they should have gone to the bathroom during their recesses, the suit states. A kindergartener had an “accident” after the vice principal did not allow the child to use the restroom, the suit further alleges.
When Guereque complained to the principal about the vice principal allegedly directing students to clean tables with the disinfectant wipes, the principal replied that the vice principal had “a reputation” (for being gruff) and that the plaintiff “needed to toughen up and deal with it,” the suit states.
Guereque also complained to the principal about the vice principal’s alleged misconduct with the kindergarten student, but the principal irritatingly responded, “Fine, I’ll investigate it,” the suit states. The plaintiff, knowing she was a mandatory reporter of any alleged child abuse of which she became aware, also notified the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and a priest with the archdiocese, the suit further states.
In her ruling, the judge ordered the defendants to turn over to the plaintiff some of the personnel records of both the principal and vice principal. As to the vice principal, the order pertains to portions of her personnel file relating to a suspected child abuse report within the past five years.
Guereque also alleges the principal ordered her back to her classroom after the plaintiff brought to the administration’s offices a student having trouble breathing and in need of an inhaler, the suit states. The principal issued the directive while knowing the plaintiff had been asked to stay with the student until his mother arrived to the school, the suit filed in June 2025 states.
Chang’s order calls for the turnover of the principal’s personnel file pertaining to any complaints of retaliation, whistleblower retaliation or wrongful termination, within the past five years.
Because she spoke out about her concerns regarding the student and the inhaler, Guereque was suspended in November 2024 for alleged insubordination, escorted off the property and terminated the next day, according to the suit, which further states the plaintiff has suffered lost income as well as ongoing emotional distress.