Magnolia Municipal Court clerk Patricia Perez resigned from her position as first assistant court clerk Sept. 25, citing discrimination from city hall and city council members.

Perez, who spent eight years working for the city as a certified Level 1 court clerk and certified State of Texas court interpreter, said her work environment was “too much to take.”

In her letter of resignation, Perez says her time with the city had been “on the whole satisfying and productive,” but that for some time she had become “less satisfied with the work situation.”

In a Sept. 22 meeting, she said she was told by City Administrator Ryan Kelley that the council and mayor were “picking on her” for, among other things, not answering the phone correctly, not being at her desk enough and frequently taking time off.

“It became clear then that I am being singled out,” she wrote of the meeting in her resignation letter.

Perez said she never had any other complaints about the way she answered the phone and that all time off was approved by the judge and corroborated, if necessary, with a doctor’s note.

“I was told in the meeting I was not going to be under the direction of the judge any longer and that I needed to report to the city secretary and let her know every single time I had to be off my desk for any reason,” Perez said. “I was told not to go to the court department any more to collect my work.”

In addition, Perez said she was denied vacation time, and told to work around other people’s schedules.

In June of 2001, Perez was hired by the city on a part-time basis and was soon promoted to a full-time position as a senior clerk. In 2002, Perez left for eight months to work with family members who owned a chain of restaurants.

In 2003, she was hired back “immediately” in the position of first assistant court clerk.

Since then, she maintained that position, the duties of which required paperwork dealing with warrants, calling jurors, interpreting in the court room and several other court-related duties.

In October 2008, Perez was moved to a desk in the lobby of city hall. She says she was told that she would be helping out as a receptionist until the city could hire a new one. Perez said Kelley told her it would be “a few months.”

But instead of a few months, the temporary placement turned into nearly a year.

Perez maintained the desk and duties as receptionist/first assistant court clerk until her resignation Sept. 25.

“It’s a situation where they should have fixed it right away,” Perez said. “I was pretty upset by the fact that I had to let them know every single time I was away from my desk, when everyone else in the office could get up and do what they needed to do when they needed to do it. Why do I have to be the only one that has to let them know, when I have the qualifications to be in the court department?”

Kelley said he is “sorry that she resigned” and that moving Perez into the lobby was not under his discretion.

“The judge indicated to me that she understood it was temporary,” Kelley said. “It was the court’s idea to put her out there. I don’t remember discussing her being temporary.”

Kelley confirmed the meeting on Sept. 22 did happen, but would not elaborate on what was discussed, calling it a “private” conversation.

Perez said she was never warned or told her job performance needed improvement.

“No reprimands or anything of that nature,” she said.

Senior court clerk Karla Bussey was Perez’s immediate supervisor for the past three years, but worked with her for a total of eight.

Bussey said she did not have any issues with Perez’s job performance while she was her immediate supervisor.

“Patricia was a good worker and knew her job,” Bussey said.

Despite the experience, Perez said she liked the work she did in her job.

“The eight years that I stayed there, I enjoyed the work I did, I really did, working with the ladies there,” she said.

After her resignation, Perez said she scheduled a meeting with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) office in Houston and said she is pursuing legal counsel. She is also considering working full-time as a court interpreter in the future.

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