HOUSTON – The Texas Renaissance Festival formally countered numerous allegations laid out in a former employee’s federal wrongful termination lawsuit, per recent Houston federal court records.
TRF submitted an original answer into Eileen Pena’s suit on July 17, just two months after Pena initiated legal action on claims the company and Stargate Manor Arboretum fired her for pushing back against her superior for ordering her to perform tasks she thought were inappropriate.
According to the plaintiff, she accepted a full-time permanent position supporting TRF’s general manager in late 2015 only to discover that she was actually hired to work as the personal assistant to the entity’s owner, George Coulam, and accounting assistant to SMA.
The suit asserts that Coulam “tasked (the plaintiff) with several unwelcome, sexually offensive and inappropriate personal tasks such as finding him women to date and managing others tasked with finding him women.”
Pena further describes her experience working for Coulam as demeaning, stating she was fired after she told her boss “very clearly and calmly” his behavior was inappropriate.
TRF’s response denies that “(Pena) was ever employed as an assistant to (George) Coulam while employed at TRF.” It additionally disputes Pena’s sexual harassment and retaliation complaints.
“To the extent the plaintiff may be found an employee of TRF, TRF asserts that its legitimate, non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons for its employment decisions were not a pretext or a proxy for any alleged unlawful action,” the 9-page answer says.
Court records show that SMA also submitted an original petition.
Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas Case No. 4:18-CV-1610