ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The St. Johns County government has released an investigation report addressing retaliation claims from an employee who alleged she was punished for reporting sexual harassment.
That employee’s husband shared his concerns about the investigation in her defense.
“I’m a private person. I don’t need myself out there, and I never wanted myself out there, but I also need to protect my wife,” Martin Pyszczymuka said.
The report, released on Friday, detailed that the county investigated claims of retaliation made by an employee who reported sexual harassment on behalf of another worker. It identified a security guard as the individual accused of unwelcome conduct.
PREVIOUS STORY: St. Johns County employee’s harassment allegations spark call for independent review
Pyszczymuka voiced his concerns about the investigation during the county commission meeting on March 18. He said his wife reported harassment claims on behalf of her subordinate, and additionally she had several run-ins with the security guard in question.
“My wife was getting into her car, and this gentleman pulled up in front of her, rolled down the window and was like, I want to get to know you better. And I was completely infuriated,” he said.
According to the report, the issue was escalated to the building operations superintendent on Aug. 5, 2024, and county management confirmed that the security guard was scheduled for replacement on Aug 12. The employee at the center of the sexual harassment claims expressed concern about the delay in reassigning the security guard.
“My wife then went to Director Roberson, asking him why the person was still there. Roberson said it had been handled. He didn’t have time to talk about it, and he was basically very abrupt. My wife said, ‘Mike, this is not good enough. I’m going to have to bring this to HR’ because my wife follows the policies set out by the county that are put in place to protect the county employees. At that moment, Roberson said, go ahead,” Pyszczymuka recounted.
MORE | Investigation into retaliation claims related to sexual harassment in St. Johns County continues
In February, an anonymous source sent News4JAX an email that was sent to county commissioners regarding these claims. It said that when the employee attempted to escalate the sexual harassment allegations through proper channels, she faced dismissiveness, resistance, and ultimately, retaliation.
Pyszczymuka’s wife was placed on administrative leave after our report on Feb. 5, with no explanation provided. The investigation report indicated that multiple individuals were interviewed, but the complainant was not among them due to a disagreement over interview conditions.
Pyszczymuka noted that they received a call to conduct the interview just hours before it was scheduled.
“The attorney, he was very combative. He said all the interviews were just one-on-one, and if she didn’t agree to do the interview one-on-one, he would just proceed without her interview,” Pyszczymuka said.
He added that his wife had an Americans with Disabilities Act request from a therapist she began seeing in August.
“My wife made several attempts to reschedule the interview to find out what the status was, and it was all met by no reply from her county liaison that she was reaching out to. She was told, I’ll look into it. Never heard anything back,” he said.
The report concluded that the complainant was not subjected to retaliation for reporting workplace misconduct. It stated that she received a corrective action notice for “unacceptable behavior” and not in retaliation for reporting the security guard’s misconduct. The report claims her reaction to learning about the security guard’s replacement was abrupt and demanding. However, Pyszczymuka offers a different perspective on the corrective action notice.
“Her immediate supervisor never talked to her about anything that happened but just automatically agreed with what Director Roberson said. Now mind you, this is the same supervisor who was literally yelling and screaming at my wife, banging on her desk, pointing at her to the extent that a fellow employee had to leave the office,” he said.
In a phone conversation on Friday night, Pyszczymuka expressed his dissatisfaction with the report, stating, “It’s just a complete lack of integrity and honesty in the report.”
When asked if his wife had considered leaving her job, he responded, “That’s the thing with my wife, you’re not gonna scare her away. She is very principled, and she’s not going to back down.”
News4JAX reached out to St. Johns County government communications with questions regarding the investigation and is awaiting an official response.
