A marketing analyst for UC Irvine's Cancer Center Monday sued a volunteer fundraiser and the University of California, alleging she was sexually harassed while on the job and nothing was done to help her.
Carlin Rae Motley, 34, alleges that Ibrahim Eldumiati had been harassing her for about a year with unwanted visits, hugs and kisses, and that she sought help from a higher-up to no avail.
Motley told City News Service that she wants the university to "make some sort of formal agreement with Mr. Eldumiati that he can no longer have a position there, that he not be able to volunteer or be employed by the university... It's important to know that I'm safe and that other women are also kept safe."
She also said she would like to see her supervisor undergo more sexual harassment training "so she's not in a position to hurt employees the way I was hurt this past year."
Plaintiff's attorney John Winer alleged that his client was happy in her job until Eldumiati, who is named as a defendant, "developed a crush on her and starts sexually harassing her and just kind of doing everything he can to insinuate himself into her life."
He said Motley went to her manager, Jennifer Sarrail.
"She said, 'Look, this guy is sexually harassing me, he calls me all the time, tries to kiss me and get all over me. You need to please help me stop it because I don't know what to do,'" Winer said. "The supervisor failed in
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any way to take action to protect Carlin ... and, instead, did everything to make her face as much risk as possible, leaving them in situations alone together, and this guy would always try to hit on her. She did everything she could to resist him."
UC Irvine spokesman Tom Vasich declined to comment on the specifics in the complaint.
"We have just learned of the lawsuit at today's news conference. We will review legal documents once they are received and comment at the appropriate time," he said.
Winer alleged that Eldumiati "has impulse control issues, which makes him dangerous to someone like Carlin."
"They should have done way more to protect her," Winer said, adding that the volunteer should have been warned to stay away from Motley.
"Not only did they allow him to have access to her, it continued," the attorney said. "They invited him to events she was going to be at."
The complaint details how Eldumiati allegedly got drunk at a dinner preceding a Sheryl Crow concert to raise funds for the hospital in October 2017. At some point he grew so inebriated that he took his shoes off and "food literally fell out of his mouth," according to the complaint.
On the day of the concert, he allegedly got drunk again and "bear-hugged" Motley while kissing her multiple times on the cheek and neck, according to the complaint, which also alleges he said he "loved" her multiple times.
At one point, Eldumiati took a photo of Motley that he used as a screensaver for his phone and showed it to her, according to the lawsuit, which says the "last straw" for the plaintiff came at the end of January when he was waiting for her as she arrived at work and said he needed to "ask her some questions," then rode up the elevator with her.
At a meeting with the volunteer's supervisors later that day, Motley reiterated that she wanted him to leave her alone, according to her court papers, which allege that one of the supervisors said she was "curious" to see what Motley looked like because Eldumiati "always said how beautiful (she) was."
According to the complaint, Sarrail said Eldumiati was "a valuable contributor to the program."
He raised about $40,000 last year, "and apparently that's a lot" for a volunteer, Winer said.
Motley filed an internal complaint, which found in her favor, but she was never told what happened to the supervisors and was not given any assurances that she would be protected, Winer said.
Motley said she was often told when she raised concerns that it was a "sensitive" situation because of the defendant's prolific fundraising.
"He began circling me like I'm some sort of prey, like an animal, stalking me," she said. "At one point he was just staring at me very intently, so I went to a co-worker of mine to let her know that I was very afraid and very alone and could she keep an eye on me throughout the event. I also asked my sisters to show up to the event to keep an eye on me."
