SAN LUIS – A civil trial involving allegations of race and sex discrimination against The Acequia Institute of San Luis and its board member Devon Peña began with jury selection Tuesday at the Costilla County Courthouse.
Addelina Lucero, in a complaint originally filed in November 2022 under the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, alleges she was subjected to race discrimination, sex discrimination, a hostile work environment and interference with the employment contract she had with The Acequia Institute as an expert in food sovereignty.
Peña is the face of trial, sitting as the defendant as the case plays out this week in San Luis. Eliasa Sabantini, also a board member of The Acequia Institute, is on the witness list and expected to testify during the trial.
District Court Judge Kimberly Cortez is overseeing the trial. A jury of six, with one alternate, will decide if Lucero’s accusations have merit.
Attorneys for Lucero and Peña began questioning prospective jurors throughout the morning and into Tuesday afternoon. The trial is expected to last four days, with the outcome weighing heavily on the work Peña and The Acequia Institute have been doing over the past five years in creating a resurgence of food sovereignty in Costilla County by reviving and strengthening the local agriculture and food system.
The Acequia Institute landed a $1.5 million grant from the Colorado Health Foundation in 2021 to spur the work, including helping with the purchase of the old R&R Market which has been rebranded the San Luis Peoples Market to emphasize the local food movement.
Lucero, who describes herself as a Taos Pueblo/Yacqui woman and a traditional pueblo farmer active in the Indigenous Food Sovereignty movement, joined The Acequia Institute as a volunteer in 2020 to help with the grant application to the Colorado Health Foundation.
In the complaint, Lucero says she was recruited to The Acequia Institute due to her reputation, knowledge, skill and connections in the Indigenous Food Sovereignty and sustainability movements. Once the Colorado Health Foundation grant was awarded she became a paid contractor with the title community outreach and education coordinator to continue helping The Acequia Institute and Peña move their projects forward.
The Colorado Health Foundation is aware of the trial and has told Alamosa Citizen it doesn’t comment on litigation related to current or prior grantees.
Lucero claims she was fired, without cause, by Peña on July 15, 2022, after she complained to board members about a hostile and abusive work environment created by Peña.
“Dr. Peña was at first respectful of Ms. Lucero, but when she needed to press him for time, information, respect for boundaries, commitments or accountability, his veneer of respectfulness quickly gave way to aggression, intimidation, insult, vicious language, name calling, false and malicious accusations, gaslighting and other forms of verbal and mental abuse,” according to the lawsuit that is now the basis for the civil trial in Costilla County District Court.