Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Spokeswoman files lawsuit

Jennifer Vega-Brown

A former attorney and spokeswoman for Bernalillo County Sheriff Dan Houston has filed a lawsuit claiming she was retaliated against after raising concerns about discrimination and sexual harassment against Hispanic women in the Sheriff's Office.

 Jennifer Vega-Brown tells the Albuquerque Journal it was "hell" working for Houston. She was told last week that she was being fired. 

Houston told the ABQ Journal Wednesday that he did use some derogatory terms to describe Vega-Brown and another female sheriff's employee but says he was just repeating allegations made by someone else. The sheriff says he fired Vega-Brown for poor job performance. He also denied making some of the derogatory comments attributed to him in the lawsuit.

Former Bernalillo County Sheriff Spokeswoman files lawsuit