SAN ANTONIO – A place to which Felicia Armstrong traveled daily for five years now holds painful reminders.
Armstrong said Laurel Ridge Treatment Center was not only her place of employment, but also a site at which she endured trauma.
“Working here, you keep everything undercover. You don’t let anybody know,” Armstrong said. “They have it where you just be quiet, or you will lose your job.”
Armstrong said she was doing her job, working as a mental health and admissions tech, when her then-boss crossed a line.
Last week, she filed a lawsuit against Laurel Ridge and Jacob Cuellar, the former chief executive officer, claiming he groped her during a 2024 staff meeting, and the company ignored her outcry.
“I turned around to swing and hit him, and it was him,” Armstrong told TheTXLoop 12 News. “I couldn’t believe it. I just kind of looked at him.”
Armstrong said she also reported the matter to others within the company, but instead of action being taken against him, she found herself in trouble.
“Retaliation. Hours cutting. I barely could pay my rent. I lost my home,” she said.
Cuellar was fired months after the alleged harassment, but in response to his arrest in a separate child sexual assault case. He has a court date scheduled in connection with that case on May 20.
Another case involving similar charges in North Carolina is also pending.
Armstrong said her case of sexual harassment allegedly happened while she was already undergoing a tough time at work.
She said she was still healing from injuries she suffered tied to an understaffing issue at the facility.
A beating she endured while trying to subdue a patient, Armstrong said, has left her with a hearing loss that requires her to use a hearing aid.
“He snatched my hair and commenced to hitting me in my head until I was dazed,” she said, in reference to the patient, who says he was 6 feet 7 inches tall.
While talking to TheTXLoop 12 News outside the facility Monday, Armstrong said she was unable to even look at the building, which holds so many troubling memories for her.
She left the job last July and had not been back since.
“This place has caused a lot of trauma for a lot of people,” Armstrong said. “I know God’s got me, but (I) still have emotions.”
Armstrong said she’s counting on her faith to keep her strong through the future.
Armstrong’s lawsuit is the latest in a series of troubles that Laurel Ridge is facing.
As TheTXLoop 12 News previously reported, the mental health and addiction treatment center was found to have several violations during a state inspection last year.
Last month, the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid announced that it was revoking the facilities’ privileges to treat patients under those programs.
As a result, the company announced in early May that it would be laying off more than 650 employees, effective in June.
Soon after that, the center fired its most recent CEO, Ashley Sacriste, though no official reason has been given.
In response to the sexual harassment lawsuit, Lauren H. Whiting, an attorney representing Laurel Ridge Treatment Center, sent the following written statement:
“Laurel Ridge Treatment Center strongly denies Ms. Armstrong’s claims and intends to vigorously defend this matter. The facility takes all allegations seriously and remains committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace.”
TheTXLoop 12 News also left phone messages for two attorneys who are representing Cuellar in his criminal case in San Antonio.
As of Monday afternoon, neither had responded.
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