City of Deming sued, city manager accused of sexual harassment
The city of Deming, New Mexico, is being sued by a former public relations officer who alleges that City Manager Aaron Sera sexually harassed her, leading to her resignation.
SEVEN NEWS. ONE NEW MEXICO CITY EMPLOYEE NOW SUING ANOTHER JASON MCNABB WITH THE CLAIMS OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND RETALIATION. NOW IN COURT. ERIN. SARA, WHO YOU SEE BEHIND ME HAS BEEN CITY MANAGER SINCE 2014. A FORMER PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER FOR THE CITY SAYS SARA SEXUALLY HARASSED HER AND FACED RETALIATION FOR REPORTING IT, ULTIMATELY LEADING TO HER RESIGNATION LAST YEAR. THESE CASES ARE ACTUALLY SORT OF COMMON. UNFORTUNATELY, YOU’RE LOOKING AT THE SUIT WHICH WAS FILED BY AMANDA SANDERS BACK IN OCTOBER. SHE’S A FORMER PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF DEMING FROM 2022 TO 2025, AND CITY MANAGER SARA WAS HER DIRECT SUPERVISOR. THE SUIT ALLEGES SARA MADE ADVANCES TOWARDS SANDERS AT AN OUT-OF-TOWN CONFERENCE IN 2023, WHICH INCLUDED SARA ALLEGEDLY PLACING HIS HAND ON HER LEGS AND ASKING HOW SANDERS WOULD FEEL IF HE, QUOTE, MADE OUT WITH HER. SARA ALSO ALLEGEDLY TOLD ONE OF SANDERS COWORKERS THAT THEY HAD, QUOTE, HAD SEX ON TOP OF A BAR AND ON A LATER DATE TOLD HER THAT SHE LOOKED LIKE A, QUOTE, SEXY LIBRARIAN, THE SUIT ALLEGES. FOLLOWING THIS, SARA ONLY ALLOWED SANDERS TO TALK TO HIM IN PRIVATE IF SHE NEEDED INFORMATION FOR HER JOB, WAS NOT ALLOWED TO ATTEND CERTAIN MEETINGS, AND WAS TOLD BY ANOTHER ONE OF SARA’S EMPLOYEES TO, QUOTE, STAY IN HER LANE. SANDERS WOULD LATER FILE SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINTS WITH BOTH THE CITY CLERK AND THE EEOC, BUT SAYS IN THE SUIT SHE WAS CONTINUOUSLY RETALIATED AGAINST, INCLUDING BEING ACCUSED OF SPREADING FALSE RUMORS, LEADING TO HER RESIGNATION IN FEBRUARY OF LAST YEAR. CERTAINLY FRUSTRATING IF YOU’RE THE PERSON WHO’S BEING SEXUALLY HARASSED YOU, YOU MAY HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE THAN TO BRING A LAWSUIT, KOAT LEGAL EXPERT JOHN DAY SAYS. IN INSTANCES LIKE THIS, THERE’S OFTEN NO OTHER ROUTE TO RESOLVE DISPUTES LIKE THIS BESIDES GOING TO COURT. YEAH, I’VE HAD A LOT OF CASES WHERE I’VE REPRESENTED PEOPLE IN THE POSITION OF THE WOMAN WHO’S BRINGING THE COMPLAINT, PEOPLE WHO WERE SEXUALLY HARASSED, PEOPLE WHO WERE RETALIATED AGAINST. AND, YOU KNOW, THERE ARE DIFFICULT CASES TO BRING. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF YOU’RE SUCCESSFUL, THE PERSON YOU’RE WORKING FOR CAN BE SATISFIED THAT THEY GOT THEIR DAY IN COURT. SANDERS ALSO CLAIMS IN THE SUIT THAT THE CITY OFFERED HER A SEVERANCE PACKAGE MONTHS BEFORE SHE RESIGNED, SHORTLY BEFORE MORE ALLEGED RETALIATORY BEHAVIOR AGAINST HER BEGAN. JASON MCNABB, KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. WE HAVE REACHED OUT TO BOTH SANDERS ATTORNEY AND THE CIT
City of Deming sued, city manager accused of sexual harassment
The city of Deming, New Mexico, is being sued by a former public relations officer who alleges that City Manager Aaron Sera sexually harassed her, leading to her resignation.
The city of Deming, New Mexico, is being sued by a former public relations officer who alleges that City Manager Aaron Sera sexually harassed her, leading to her resignation. Amanda Sanders, who served as the city’s public relations officer from 2022 to 2025, claims in the lawsuit that Sera made advances toward her at an out-of-town conference in 2023, including placing his hand on her legs and asking how she would feel if he “made out with her.”The lawsuit also alleges that Sera told one of Sanders’ co-workers that they had “had sex on top of a bar” and later commented that she looked like a “sexy librarian.”Following these incidents, Sanders claims she was only allowed to speak with Sera in private for work-related information, was excluded from certain meetings, and was advised by another employee to “stay in her lane.”Sanders filed sexual harassment complaints with both the city clerk and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but alleges she faced continuous retaliation, including accusations of spreading false rumors, which led to her resignation in February of last year.KOAT legal expert John Day said, “These cases are actually sort of common, unfortunately.”He explained that such disputes often end up in court because “the defendants will say this is all made up and they’re simply just trying to get some money out of it. So that’s why these things go to court. That’s why things are decided in front of a jury a lot of the time when both sides get to put on their evidence and the jury says we believe one side over the other.”Sanders also claims in the lawsuit that the city offered her a severance package months before her resignation, shortly before more alleged retaliatory behavior against her began. Attempts to reach Sanders’ attorney and the city of Deming for comments on the lawsuit have not yet been successful.
The city of Deming, New Mexico, is being sued by a former public relations officer who alleges that City Manager Aaron Sera sexually harassed her, leading to her resignation.
Amanda Sanders, who served as the city’s public relations officer from 2022 to 2025, claims in the lawsuit that Sera made advances toward her at an out-of-town conference in 2023, including placing his hand on her legs and asking how she would feel if he “made out with her.”
The lawsuit also alleges that Sera told one of Sanders’ co-workers that they had “had sex on top of a bar” and later commented that she looked like a “sexy librarian.”
Following these incidents, Sanders claims she was only allowed to speak with Sera in private for work-related information, was excluded from certain meetings, and was advised by another employee to “stay in her lane.”
Sanders filed sexual harassment complaints with both the city clerk and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but alleges she faced continuous retaliation, including accusations of spreading false rumors, which led to her resignation in February of last year.
KOAT legal expert John Day said, “These cases are actually sort of common, unfortunately.”
He explained that such disputes often end up in court because “the defendants will say this is all made up and they’re simply just trying to get some money out of it. So that’s why these things go to court. That’s why things are decided in front of a jury a lot of the time when both sides get to put on their evidence and the jury says we believe one side over the other.”
Sanders also claims in the lawsuit that the city offered her a severance package months before her resignation, shortly before more alleged retaliatory behavior against her began.
Attempts to reach Sanders’ attorney and the city of Deming for comments on the lawsuit have not yet been successful.
