St. George • A former city maintenance worker is suing St. George in federal court, alleging she was subjected to gender discrimination and retaliation from supervisors and staff over a nine-month period that culminated in her firing.
Filed in U.S. District Court in St. George this week, the lawsuit claims Mary Seegmiller was the victim of repeated sex-based discrimination while working in golf course maintenance for the city. The complaint alleges that she was denied opportunities given to male colleagues, assigned “demeaning, traditionally female tasks” and routinely subjected to sexist and derogatory remarks.
Seegmiller, who was fired from her job on May 17, 2024, alleges in the complaint filed by her attorney, Marcus Smith, that she was unfairly blamed and disciplined for issues that were not imposed on her male colleagues. When Seegmiller complained to management about the discrimination and hostile work environment, according to the lawsuit, she was retaliated against and fired.
Smith did not return calls for comment. St. George officials said they had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment on the case.
“We are aware that a complaint has been filed, but the city of St. George has not been served as of this morning,” municipal spokesperson David Cordero said Friday.
According to the lawsuit, the discrimination directed against Seegmiller occurred between August 2023 until her firing the following May. Tasked with operating lawn mowers and other landscaping machinery as part of job, the lawsuit states, Seegmiller was informed “women should not operate that machinery” and was assigned more menial duties such as sweeping, cleaning restrooms, pulling weeds and tidying up the golf pro shop.
When it came time to maintain the mowers, Seegmiller said she was told by her supervisor, Christian Wright, and male co-worker Tom Vernon that she couldn‘t perform tasks like “changing the oil, checking the brakes, blowing out filters, or checking coolant because she didn‘t have the ‘smarts’ for it,” according to the complaint.
Seegmiller was excluded from such work, the lawsuit states, “under the pretense” that those tasks were solely Vernon‘s job, though male workers continued performing maintenance. When attempting to help diagnose an oil leak or assist male coworkers in other maintenance duties, she was often told to “move along, Betty” to belittle her as a female and dismiss her efforts to contribute, the lawsuit said.
Wright told Seegmiller to steer clear of the maintenance shop because Vernon didn‘t want her there, according to the lawsuit.
“For example, she was once asked to leave the shop while cleaning her mower when Tom Vernon told her, ‘Don‘t you have something better to do?’ — referring to her female-coded tasks,” according to the lawsuit.
The behavior extended to the break room, the lawsuit claims, where male co-workers used vulgar language, told crude jokes and talked about their wives and sex lives, prompting Wright, the supervisor, to suggest Seegmiller should cover her ears.
Seegmiller claimed she was blamed for equipment malfunctions while her male colleagues avoided censure under similar circumstances. The lawsuit said she was also restricted from using certain equipment and told “girls shouldn‘t be driving that equipment.”
“On one occasion,” the lawsuit states, “a male coworker drove a mower into a pond, destroying the equipment, and faced no disciplinary action. By contrast, [Seegmiller] was blamed for and disciplined over minor issues — or for repairs that were not even her fault.”
When she reported the discrimination to management, according to the complaint, Seegmiller was placed on a performance improvement plan in November 2023 that was deficient in support or guidance — and a pretext to ultimately firing her.
“The conduct was severe and pervasive enough to alter the conditions of [Seegmiller’s] employment and created a hostile, intimidating, and offensive work environment based on her sex …,” the lawsuit states, adding that city officials “failed to take prompt or appropriate remedial action despite [her] repeated complaints, and instead enabled the harassment to continue.”
Seegmiller is seeking $300,000 in damages for her loss of income and benefits, emotional distress and harm to her reputation. She is also seeking to recoup legal costs from the city, according to court documents.
