Former Employee Sues Adult Bookstore
Sales Clerk Claims She Was Fired for Reporting Sexual Harassment by Customer
A former employee at S.B. Books, Inc. — the adult bookstore at 405 State Street — has filed a lawsuit against the shop’s owner.
Santa Barbara resident Quiana Foley claims she was fired just days after she called the cops at work on April 21, 2013, when a customer (Edward Luis Trujillo, who would be convicted for the incident) exposed himself to her and tried to come behind the sales counter to touch her. The lawsuit states the bookstore’s assistant manager told Foley she was fired because her “act of calling the police had brought unwanted and unfavorable law enforcement scrutiny of S.B. Books’ business and clientele.”
Represented by Santa Barbara employment attorney James H. Cordes is S.B. Books owner Donovan M. Green, who denies the allegations. Employment attorney Jeffrey F. Ryan of Redwood City is representing Foley. The case returns to court on January 19. The trial is scheduled for June 3 in Judge Colleen Sterne’s courtroom.