Two former student workers of the Associated Students, Inc.’s Children’s Center at Sacramento State have alleged discrimination, intimidation and mistreatment from Sherry Velte, the center’s director.

LaRetha Breazell, a student and former associate teacher for the center, resigned on Feb. 18. She detailed her experiences with Velte in her resignation letter, in which she said that the work environment was “heartbreaking” and “toxic.”

“I would go to work everyday thinking, ‘Fire me, please fire me,’” Breazell said. “But I knew if I got fired and came out about it, they’d turn it around on me.”

Breazell said Velte used intimidation tactics against her and other workers in her role as the center’s director. She said Velte often threatened her job security and said it’s “my word against yours” when confronted.

Breazell said that over time, Velte’s treatment caused her to fall into depression, and she is still recovering from it today.

“Behind closed doors, there was a culture of racism and intimidation,” Breazell said.

Breazell said this treatment extended to workers throughout the Children’s Center. Shellcia Longsworth, a fellow former associate teacher who worked alongside Breazell, said she experienced a similar environment to what Breazell described.

Breazell and Longsworth said Velte would reinforce stereotypes and compare them to their other African-American coworkers. They said Velte made comments about them being “too loud” and said they should be more like their white coworkers.

Both Breazell and Longsworth said they saw Velte make discriminatory comments to other workers and said they often saw workers leaving Velte’s office in tears. Longsworth said this was after Velte claimed to keep an “open door policy.”

“It’s not an open door policy to talk bad about people or make people so uncomfortable they’re coming out crying,” Longsworth said.

Longsworth said she brought up these issues to ASI’s Human Resources department, but said no changes were made to her knowledge.

Longsworth said that after she resigned, Velte and HR did not acknowledge her resignation. She said Velte found her emergency contact and called her mother to ask why Longsworth was not coming to work, instead of reaching out to Longsworth directly.

“There were moments throughout that were deeply uncomfortable,” Longsworth said. “HR is fully aware of this, and I don’t know if they have the power to do anything or just choose not to.”

Breazell said she also brought her issues to HR, but she was told they ‘needed time.’ She reported no resolution.

Breazell said there was a gradual buildup of hate and bigotry after she began working at the center in October 2023. However, Longsworth said she’d felt uncomfortable since she started working at the Children’s Center.

“My whole time at ASI was very rough, from start to when I resigned,” Longsworth said.

When reached for comment or an interview request by The State Hornet, Velte responded over email with the following statement:

“As much as I would like to share a perspective on this issue, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss personnel issues with you as it would violate an employee’s right to confidentiality.”

On Monday night, ASI Board of Directors’ President Nataly Andrade-Dominguez released the following statement on her Instagram story about these allegations.

“ASI is also aware that there have been allegations of discrimination and inappropriate conduct raised at the Children’s Center. Consistent with its policy and practice, ASI has retained an independent and experienced investigator to investigate the allegations. The investigation is commencing this week. ASI does not tolerate discrimination in the workplace and if the investigation reveals violations of ASI policy on discrimination or other policies, appropriate corrective action will be implemented.”

ASI’s HR department did not respond to request for comment at the time of publication.