Lawsuit alleges sexual harassment against hospice provider

A Henderson woman involved in a whistleblower case against Creekside Hospice has filed a new lawsuit that accuses her former supervisor of sexual harassment.

Veneta Lepera, a former clinical manager at the Las Vegas business, filed the new case Friday in Clark County District Court. She is represented by attorney Jeffrey Gronich.

According to an email from a company spokeswoman Wednesday, “Creekside Hospice disputes the allegations and will reply to the allegations in court at the appropriate time.”

Lepera and Joanne Cretney-Tsosie, a clinical manager at a satellite office in Pahrump, previously filed federal whistleblower lawsuits that accuse Creekside and related entities of submitting millions of dollars in false claims to Medicare and Medicaid. Their lawsuits were combined, and the U.S. and Nevada governments recently joined in the case.

Creekside also has disputed the allegations in the whistleblower case.

According to Lepera’s new lawsuit, she was hired in July 2009. The document claims her supervisor, Jerry Bolyard, began to physically and verbally harass her in a sexual manner in May 2010.

Bolyard called her derogatory names, according to the lawsuit, and often slapped her on her buttocks and grabbed her breasts.

In addition, the document alleges, Bolyard “repeatedly made comments and gestures of a sexual nature” toward her.

Lepera asked Bolyard to stop, but he refused, according to the lawsuit, which claims Creekside’s human resources department also refused to investigate her claim.

“Plaintiff later learned that Monique Armendariz, one of Creekside’s human resource managers, was married to Bolyard,” the lawsuit states.

After complaining to human resources, Lepera discovered that Bolyard and other high-ranking people were slandering her by spreading rumors about her professional conduct among the low-level staff, according to the lawsuit.

Lepera, now 49, filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in March 2011. Shortly after filing her charge, Lepera was admitted to an emergency room for a stress-related condition, according to her lawsuit.

“Plaintiff notified Creekside of her hospitalization, and also stated that until the situation was resolved, she did not feel safe returning to work,” according to the lawsuit.

She was suspended on March 21, 2011, according to the document, and her employment was terminated on April 5, 2011.

“At some point between the end of March and the end of April 2011, Creekside made a false report to the Nevada State Board of Nursing that plaintiff had ordered medications for herself and her family under false pretenses,” the lawsuit alleges.

“Such report was done to discredit plaintiff and ensure that she would lose her license.”

The board found that the allegations were unsubstantiated, according to Lepera’s lawsuit, which includes a claim of retaliation.

Lepera was notified in September that Amy Burkholder, director of the EEOC’s Las Vegas office, had determined “there is reasonable cause to believe” that Lepera was discriminated against because of her sex.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Find her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.