• About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Friday, June 20, 2025
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem!
    • Weekly Pickem Updates
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish
No Result
View All Result
The Platte County Landmark Newspaper
No Result
View All Result

Lawsuit filed vs R-3 ‘s food management firm

Valerie Verkamp by Valerie Verkamp
December 11, 2019
in Local News
17
SHARES
424
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare via Email

Instead of preparing food for students at Platte City Middle School, a 64-year-old employee of OPAA Food Management claims she was ordered to cook food for her co-worker’s catering job using the school’s resources.

It is one of many questionable acts outlined in a 28-page employee discrimination lawsuit filed on Nov. 19 against OPAA Food Management.

RelatedNews

Details about murder suspect begin to emerge

New bridge going in on Hwy. Z

One-day outdoor art fair coming to Riverside

Carolyn Mejia of Kansas City, represented by attorneys Kevin Baldwin, Eric Vernon and Sylvia Hernandez of Baldwin & Vernon, alleges she experienced discrimination due to age and retaliation for exercising her rights.

The first alleged mishap occurred right after Carolyn Mejia was hired on April 16, 2018 to cook breakfast for the school, located at 900 Pirate Drive in Platte City.

While on the clock, the cooking staff was sharing how much they were looking forward to payday. When Mejia inquired about her first paycheck, her supervisor, Amy Portenier, showed Mejia the pay period spreadsheet, which indicated she would be paid at the end of the week, suit says.

But come payday, the suit says, Mejia’s check had not been direct deposited into her bank account as indicated on the ADP Workforce Login. Mejia told human resource personnel to which they allegedly accused her of incorrectly inputting her checking information.

When Mejia reminded human resources, she hadn’t entered any checking information but had provided them a void check to initiate the direct deposit, human resource personnel warned her about having an attitude, the case says.

Instead of receiving a check for that pay period, Mejia was issued a debit card with the amount she earned that “did not work the way” human resources claimed it would, states court documents.

Another problem outlined in the lawsuit involves Mejia’s health insurance. Prior to accepting the position, the suit says, Mejia was told she would be eligible to receive health insurance after one month on the job. After satisfying this probationary period, Mejia spoke with human resources and was told “she didn’t think it was right and was would ask someone about it.”

Eventually, she was given a piece of paper with someone’s contact information and instructed to call this person about health insurance, the suit says. Months went by with no return phone call about health insurance, states court documents.

It wasn’t until Mejia voiced a concern for her stomach on Sept. 10th before human resource personnel told her they “found out she could sign-up in November during open enrollment, but that it wasn’t good enough health insurance to get a colonoscopy.”

PREPARING ROASTS FOR CATERING JOB

Usually Mejia worked from 6 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. feeding breakfast to students and helping co-workers with various tasks, especially “jobs they didn’t want to do, such as taking out the trash,” states court documents. Mejia would grin and bear it to prevent unpleasant consequences, including the time her co-worker, identified in court documents as Amy P., told her about an outside catering job and “that there were 4 roasts for her to cook,” the case says.

After retrieving the recipe for the rub to place on the roast, Mejia allegedly prepared the pans and covered the roast with tin foil. Another employee “ripped the tinfoil off the pan and said that it needed parchment paper between the roast and the tinfoil,” states court documents.

Mejia allegedly did as she was told and lifted the two large pans each containing two roasts into the top oven at the school. The same employee that reprimanded her earlier about the parchment paper, “opened the door to a bottom oven, grabbed the pan, and shoved both pans into the bottom of the oven, not on a rack, but the bottom floor of the oven,” states court documents.

She then told Mejia “you needed to get them in at 6 in the morning. Now you are leaving, and I will have to watch them.”

As the lawsuit makes clear, Mejia did as she was told to keep her job. Mejia, the suit points out, was “hired to cook for the school and not the catering company.”

Towards the end of her shift, Mejia allegedly complained to Amy Portenier about the events of day.

The suit also describes multiple accounts of employees’ running afoul, including turning up the temperature of the oven to burn Mejia’s cinnamon rolls and excluding her from team building exercises, like spirit day.

According to the lawsuit, when Mejia told human resource personnel about these annoyances in the workplace, they “stood in front of” Mejia and repeatedly said “what does Jean do?” Mejia, who was clearly intimidated, responded, “let me get my thoughts together.”

When human resources made the claim, “there’s that attitude again,” Mejia said, “I have had enough,” and attempted to leave the room. Human resources urged her to sign a termination slip, but Mejia rightfully declined.

According to the lawsuit, while Mejia attempted to gather her things, a human resource agent, identified in court documents as Megan, followed her so closely that she could “feel her breath,” causing Mejia to feel threatened. Mejia made multiple requests for her to step back, each one more poignant than the one before.

As the lawsuit tells it, Megan yelled, “did you hear her threaten me and I’m pregnant.”

The human resource agent continued to escalate the situation by blocking Mejia as she attempted to collect her belongings, the suit says. HR allegedly shouted, “she pushed me, did you see her push me, and I am pregnant, you’re going to hear from my lawyer!”

The lawsuit says Mejia never pushed the human resource agent. The lawsuit claims Mejia experienced adverse employment actions due to her age. “Everyone was younger than her, and they always treated her as if she was stupid because of her age,” states court documents.

The suit also contends OPAA Food Management employees retaliated against Mejia in the days and weeks after she complained of acts, her lawyers’ say, are in violation the Missouri Human Rights Act. The case claims employees retaliated against her “treating her differently, subjecting her to a hostile work environment, subjecting her to a heightened level of scrutiny, setting her up to fail, and/or constructively terminating her from her employment.”

Mejia is seeking compensation for damages, including emotional pain and suffering.

Tags: Lawsuitsplatte cityplatte county
Valerie Verkamp

Valerie Verkamp

Valerie decided she wanted to be a newspaper reporter when she was 28 years old and she successfully convinced the editor of the Platte County Landmark to give it 30 days. Now with The Landmark for over a decade, she has written countless stories on local government, education, lawsuits, community news, crime, and the prison system. Valerie hails from Park University with a BA in Elementary Education and a post-baccalaureate degree in paralegal studies from Penn Valley Community College. She has received honorable mention for Best Government News Story and joined her Landmark colleagues as recipient of the General Excellence Award in the Better Newspaper Contest sponsored by the Missouri Press Association.

Related Posts

Ruslan Huseynov

Details about murder suspect begin to emerge

by Ivan Foley
June 18, 2025
0

SUSPECT IN SHARKEY SHOOTING WORKED AT LIQUOR STORE IN PLATTE CITY Two days after The Landmark had reported authorities were speaking to a person of interest, Platte County prosecutors charged that person in the Jan. 10 shooting death of Dennis...

Bryan Richison

Platte City makes offer to man from Arnold, Mo.

by Ivan Foley
June 13, 2025
0

BRYAN RICHISON MAY BECOME NEW CITY ADMINISTRATOR Matthew Bryan Richison has been offered the position as the new city administrator for Platte City. The Platte City Board of Aldermen is holding a special closed session today (Friday) at 4:30 to...

45 Years Ago–June 6, 1980

by Ivan Foley
June 12, 2025
0

Paul Regan, manager of Ferrelgas of Platte City, Bethel Road, is the new fire chief for the Platte City volunteer fire department. His selection by the other members of the fire department was approved by the Platte City Board of...

30 Years Ago–June 15, 1995

by Ivan Foley
June 12, 2025
0

Platte County Commission plans to build a new bridge across Jowler Creek on Interurban Road just south of Camden Point have hit a snag because the existing bridge has been declared of “historical significance,” it was announced Thursday. Platte County...

Next Post

Shoestring noose found in high school restroom

Popular News

  • Ruslan Huseynov

    Details about murder suspect begin to emerge

    117 shares
    Share 47 Tweet 29
  • Platte City makes offer to man from Arnold, Mo.

    45 shares
    Share 18 Tweet 11
  • New bridge going in on Hwy. Z

    12 shares
    Share 5 Tweet 3
  • I-29 pedestrian struck by three vehicles dies at scene

    74 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • KC man charged in shooting death of local sports reporter

    35 shares
    Share 14 Tweet 9
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Pickem Terms and Conditions
Call us at 816-858-0363

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe Online
  • Home
  • Local News
  • Opinion
  • Landmark Pickem
    • Results by Week
    • The Leaderboard
    • Pickem Rules and Help
  • Landmark Live!
  • Looking Backward
  • es_MXSpanish

Copyright © 2019-2020 The Platte County Landmark Newspaper - All Rights Reserved