Portland School Custodians Allege Sexual Harassment

At least five custodians with Portland Public Schools (PPS) have filed formal complaints of sexual harassment with their human resources departments, with one employee using a school board meeting on Tuesday to publicly resign, KOIN-TV reports.

The worker, identified as Malak Elkher, emotionally testified at the meeting that she was suffering from anxiety due to the alleged harassment and lack of response on the part of the Portland, Oregon, school district. “Today, I came here to quit,” she told the school board, while she placed her employee card and keys on the podium. School leaders reportedly paused the meeting to talk to the employee outside the chambers.

In an interview with KPTV-TV, Elkher said, “I’m just here to work, to make money. I need this money…. I have a baby, and [I’m] a single mother. Like, they destroyed my whole plan…. I want justice.”

Gabe Penk, a union steward with Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the union representing the complaining custodians, told KPTV the sexual harassment issues have been going on for months. “The custodian department is mostly male dominated,” he said, “and it’s probably that—because of the culture that PPS tolerates. So, lots of women are not comfortable or safe, unfortunately, working here. In the past, what we’ve seen is a lot of words and no action.”

In response to the accusations, PPS issued this statement: “We are aware of the allegations made by SEIU and are investigating. Portland Public Schools prohibits sexual harassment and retaliation of any kind, including firing, for making a good-faith compliant…. The district is deeply committed to fostering and maintaining a safe and respectful environment for all our employees.”