A representative for CrossCountry and an attorney for Christina Nielsen did not respond to a request for comment. Bocca and Nielsen did not respond to requests for interviews.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The lawsuit states that Nielsen filed a sexual harassment and retaliation complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on May 20, 2022. On February 24, 2023, Nielsen received a notice of right to sue. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division.
Nielsen joined CrossCountry in July 2018 as a loan processor at its Alpharetta, Georgia branch, after 15 years of experience in the mortgage industry, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit states that after two and a half years, she began working under Boca’s supervision and had more daily interactions with him as a branch manager.
Nielsen’s attorney wrote in the lawsuit, “Plaintiffs began to note that Boca’s leadership style was intimidating, manipulative, and verbally abusive, and that he commonly sexually assaulted his female employees.”
Nielsen claims that, on several occasions, Boka made sexually inappropriate comments to her, indicating that she was “hot” and that he wanted to have sex with her. If Nielsen didn’t respond or tried to create boundaries, Boka said having sex with him would “make everything better” for him, the lawsuit claims.
On two separate occasions, Nielsen alleged that Bocca tried to put his hands on her genitals. The lawsuit states that in April 2022, Bocca “was intoxicated,” “grabbed Plaintiff’s ass and pulled her toward him.”
The alleged episode in April resulted in Nielsen calling CrossCountry’s human resources department in May in the presence of three other co-workers. Nielsen said she was looking to resign and filed a sexual harassment complaint against Boca, according to the lawsuit.
Nielsen, who was sent home for the rest of the week, alleges that he did not resign. During the call, HR said they would investigate the matter and sent her instructions on working from home, the lawsuit states.
An email from a human resources employee connected to the lawsuit said CCM had launched an investigation and was interviewing employees through May 21, 2022.
“While privacy considerations limit our ability to share confidential information about other employees with you, we can communicate that we are taking appropriate action,” the HR email states.
However, according to the lawsuit, the company never investigated Boca’s alleged systemic sexual harassment nor questioned the other women.
Nielsen claims she filed EEOC charges and that CCM cut off access to her email, eliminating her ability to work remotely.
“On July 5, 2022, Plaintiff was informed that CCM accepted her termination during the call on May 18 and that her last day of payment would be July 1, 2022,” the lawsuit states. “The CCM had no ground to dismiss the plaintiff except in retaliation for her complaint of sexual harassment.”
Boca remains a branch manager at CrossCountry in Georgia, according to the lender’s website.
Nielsen seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, back wages, compensatory damages, punitive damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees and costs.
