While Tavga Bustani was home on sick leave, she claims her boss, then San Diego Unified Superintendent Lamont Jackson, showed up outside her house unannounced. She says he asked her to give him a tour of her home, and when they got to her bedroom, Jackson started asking her sexual questions about her relations with her boyfriend. The claim says Jackson later demoted her and then showed up at her home unannounced a second time, and tried to push the door open when she only cracked it open.
Bustani is one of two women whose allegations against Jackson sparked the school board to hire a law firm to investigate their superintendent. After that investigation, the board fired him.
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Monika Hazel, a former area superintendent, claims Jackson called her his “work wife” and asked her to accompany him to a hotel room, his own home when his wife was away and even a trip to Las Vegas, according to her claim against the district.
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Hazel also claims the district’s current interim superintendent, Dr. Fabiola Bagula, forced her to speak in a “baby girl” voice while “cowering and bowing towards her.” She states Bagula regularly threatened her and made racist comments about Caucasian people to her coworkers of color. Hazel is a Caucasian woman.
During what she described as his last overt sexual advance, Hazel says Jackson promised to protect her from a “purge” of district administration workers. She says after she rejected his sexual overture, Jackson demoted her to a teacher, “a humiliating downgrade in position and pay.”
Both Bustani and Hazel accuse the district of sex harassment and discrimination, as well as negligent hiring and retention. Hazel is also suing the district for retaliation. Both claim that their workplace became so intolerable, they were forced to quit their jobs. Hazel worked for SDUSD for 17 years. Bustani worked for the district for 27 years.
Neither woman currently works at San Diego Unified.
Both claims argue that the district knew, or should have known, about Jackson and Bagula’s behavior, saying the board was privy to his conduct before hiring him.
The district shared this statement, "The San Diego Unified School District took all claims and allegations seriously, and immediately engaged an independent third-party investigator with no ties to the District to conduct the investigation. This investigation began immediately upon the District becoming aware of the claims and allegations, in advance of formally receiving the complaints. The allegation of inappropriate conduct toward two former employees was found to be credible. All claims and allegations raised in the letters have been thoroughly investigated, addressed, and are now closed. San Diego Unified remains committed to transparency, the safety and well-being of all students and staff, and to upholding the values of our community."
But another record obtained by NBC 7 Investigates casts new doubt on that timeline. A group of principals wrote a letter to the school board, raising alarm bells against the superintendent more than year ago.
The letter was postmarked on July 7th of last year and sent Donis Coronel with the Administrators Association San Diego City Schools. She told us she immediately forwarded it to a high-level district official.
“I opened it and when I read it I was concerned,” Coronel said. “I don’t know what happened to it once I forwarded it to the district. I’m just not aware of what happened. I wasn’t copied on anything. I’m making a presumption that they did the work they needed to do. But I don’t know.”
The letter asked for an investigation into at least three promotions granted to women suspected of having sex with Lamont Jackson. It said there was a widespread perception within the district that he surrounded himself with women who slept with him on a quid pro quo basis. The letter also raised concerns about promoting a female employee despite her professional misconduct and about three abrupt departures rumored to be an effort to cover-up Jackson’s misconduct. The group of principals behind the letter said they chose to remain anonymous due to a “culture of fear” within the district and concerns of retaliation.
We asked the district to explain the 9-month time gap betwen the principals’ letter and the beginning of its investigation. We haven’t heard back.
The claims also mention that neither Jackson nor Bagula were placed on administrative leave during the district’s investigation into Jackson’s misconduct.
Hazel is seeking $700,000. Bustani is seeking $2 million.
NBC 7 Investigates reached out to Hazel and Bustani to comment further on their claims. We haven't heard back. Our efforts to reach Jackson were also not returned.
