HR manager accused of sending worker penis-shaped cake in harassment suit
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This was a half-baked idea.
An Oregon property maintenance company is being accused of harassment by a former employee who says the HR manager sent him a penis-shaped cake and told him to “eat a d–k,” a new lawsuit says.
Steven Urenda, who was the janitorial operations manager at Dasher Lights LLC and Aspen Ridge Property Services, is seeking over $500,000 in damages after he was forced to resign over the “increasingly hostile work environment,” according to the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County court.
Urenda said in the suit filed Aug. 25 that the trouble began when he received a pink box In May 2022 containing a large black chocolate penis and scrotum along with bold letters reading “EAT A D–K” on the inside box cover.
Urenda, who is Hispanic, was “disgusted by the obvious racial implications of mailing a large black chocolate penis to his household,” which he shared with his partner and his child, who is biracial and identifies as black, the complaint said.
Both Urenda’s partner and the young child saw the package’s contents, the lawsuit added.
The uncouth delivery was allegedly sent by human resources employee Jessica Carlin, whose name and information were accidentally left on the offensive package.
The suit claims Carlin had “recently admitted to calling him a ‘huge d–k’ and had apparently made other similar derogatory statements [about Urenda] to management.”
In the weeks before the delivery, Urenda — who started at Dasher in March 2022 — clashed with Carlin’s husband, Patrick Carlin, who worked as his subordinate.
Less than 10 days before the package showed up at his door, Urenda reprimanded Patrick Carlin for complaining about cleaning up garbage at one of the company’s customer sites, the complaint stated.
Just a few days after that, Jessica Carlin reportedly pulled Urenda into her office and started “bizarrely apologizing” for calling him a “‘huge d–k’” and other remarks he had not been aware of.
By the end of the month, however, Urenda received the package that he said made him feel like “the ‘resident pieces of s–t now’” at the company, the complaint added.
Jessica Carlin fessed up to sending the package, telling Urenda she ordered it for him because she “was very sensitive” when it came to her husband.
Urenda said he confronted Dasher owner Matthew McCasline about how the package made him feel, but he said he got the impression from him that he wanted to “end the conversation and sweep the issue under the rug as soon as possible.”
And despite her reported confession, Carlin was allowed to remain working at Dasher, the suit stated, while Urenda eventually received an apology note from the owners with a $50 gift card.
“[Urenda] believes that Dasher’s supposed ‘investigation’ of Carlin’s blatantly offensive conduct was conducted by McCasline and/or Paxman rather than a trained human resources professional,” the complaint said.
Urenda was left feeling “degraded and humiliated” by the process, which he alleged resulted in bullying when garbage he collected in the company trailer would be dumped back out by the following day.
Urenda ultimately resigned in July, less than two months after Carlin allegedly sent him the offensive cake.
“To allow a supervisory employee in a position of power — especially one with responsibility for human resources functions — to act in such a blatantly racist and harassing manner toward an employee is inexcusable enough, but the retaliation my client received while advocating for some basic human dignity and a safe working environment went the step beyond,” Urenda’s lead attorney, Daniel Le Roux, said in a statement on Monday.
“We hope this case sends a clear message that if an Oregon company allows this level of outrageous behavior, they will be held accountable.”
Dasher Lights did not immediately return The Post’s request for a comment on the allegations.
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