SAN ANTONIO – A paralegal with the San Antonio City Attorney’s Office was fired last year after missing a series of deadlines, including in a case for a dangerous structure that later burned to the ground, discipline records obtained by the KSAT 12 Defenders show.
City paralegal Tina Rosales received notice of a proposed termination in late July, after an investigation determined she “continuously missed deadlines and submitted sub-standard work that required multiple revisions and corrections by supervisors,” records show.
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Rosales, who in a written response in early August told City Attorney Andy Segovia the allegation statements were inaccurate, was given her final termination notice in late August, according to records.
Rosales appealed her termination but later withdrew it and did not appear before the city’s Municipal Civil Service Commission, a city official confirmed.
Rosales’ termination paperwork states that she failed to file an initial response to a lawsuit filed against the city, forcing the deadline to be extended.
Once the response was submitted, “it contained significant errors requiring correction by both you and the respective Attorney. Notably, it identified as the opposing party a completely different person from an entirely separate lawsuit,” the termination paperwork states.
In a separate incident, Rosales missed a deadline for paperwork sent to a court reporter, failed to file documents in a case management system, put the incorrect cause number on a request for an extension and misidentified the attorneys in the case, according to the paperwork.
In a third case, involving a dangerous structure, Rosales’ failure to file some paperwork prevented the city from seeking a timely default judgment, records show. This error, along with COVID-19 related delays, kept the case from moving forward, according to the discipline paperwork.
“In June, the structure burned down and the remains were demolished at the City’s expense,” records state.
“These type of errors have impacted the City in a negative manner. Because we were not able to proceed on a timely default, the structure instead burned down - a dangerous eventuality that the lawsuit was supposed to avoid,” Rosales’ termination paperwork states.
Rosales provided a lengthy written response, refuting the allegations in each incident.
Segovia, however, on Aug. 20 wrote to Rosales that he had reviewed her response but was terminating her employment, effective immediately.
Records show Rosales was given a one-day suspension in March 2020, after repeatedly missing deadlines and failing to follow instructions.
In December 2019, records show Rosales received a written reprimand for missing deadlines, failing to follow instructions and for drafting pleadings containing “several errors.”
Segovia did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
City court supervisor receives another ‘rude behavior’ complaint
A San Antonio Municipal Court supervisor who was twice accused last year of acting aggressively toward people she works with, has again been accused of mistreating a co-worker.
A written complaint on Jan. 12 states that senior warrant officer Bernadette Munguia loudly told a fellow employee not to provide an SAPD officer with the necessary paperwork for a DWI case.
After the employee told the officer he had an extra copy of a nurse’s affidavit, “Bernadette then in a very loud, angry voice told me to never do that again. She said we shouldn’t help them (officers) in such a way,” the complaint from a warrant officer states.
He described Munguia’s behavior as “rude and unprofessional.”
“I felt the need to apologize for her rude behavior as they asked why she was being so disrespectful in how she spoke,” the complaint states.
City court officials, much like last year, were vague on what, if any, discipline Munguia will face.
“The City of San Antonio Municipal Court strives to address all matters brought to our attention, including those pertaining to court personnel. Court leadership works with CoSA Human Resources to review every claim and determines what appropriate disciplinary action should be taken, as was done in this case,” court manager Yvonne Gomez said via email March 4.
Last spring, Munguia was involved in two incidents weeks apart that came just months after court officials promoted her to a supervisory role.
Last March, a city employee assigned to the Central Magistrate’s Office filed a formal complaint against Munguia, accusing her of repeatedly shouting at the woman near the end of a shift.
“It was at first demeaning the way you addressed me to call me in the office. ‘Hey you! Come over here!’ is not an effective nor proper way to address someone,” the woman’s formal complaint against Munguia stated.
Records state Munguia yelled at the woman a second time after a coworker walked over and asked if she needed any help.
“Not only did you embarrass me in front of my coworkers, the judge and any officers who happen to be there but you also embarrassed yourself and our department,” the complaint stated.
An eyewitness to the exchange later wrote of Munguia, “Her behavior during this time was certainly not reflective of anyone in a supervisory role. I feel the workplace should be free of any kind of bullying or intimidating behavior and I would hope the city has a zero tolerance stand against it because personally we should not stand for it.”
Records show court administrators gathered written statements on the incident but officials did not say what, if any, punishment Munguia received for the alleged outbursts.
Weeks later, a Bexar County District Attorney’s Office supervisor made court administrators aware of a second incident involving Munguia.
An assistant district attorney assigned to the magistrate’s office was attempting to identify a repeat drunk driver suspect in early April when she accused Munguia of shoving paperwork at her and telling her she “just wasn’t listening,” records show.
“The entire interaction was extremely aggressive on her part,” the assistant district attorney later wrote.
Like the first complaint, records show city court administrators acknowledged the incident, but officials did not say if Munguia was disciplined for it.
Court officials late last year did acknowledge that Munguia was promoted to her current position without first obtaining a Municipal Court Clerk Certification, Level II.
Gomez confirmed this month that Munguia has still not obtained the certification and now has just three months to get it.