Newport attorneys accused

The former secretary for two Newport Beach attorneys who claims she was sexually harassed at work last year is scheduled to face her ex-bosses in court next month.

In a civil lawsuit seeking unlimited damages, Estela Portillo is to appear in court May 24 against Ronald MacGregor and Randolph “Randy” Collins, of the Newport law firm of MacGregor & Collins. It will be the first conference between the two parties since Portillo filed suit Dec. 31, alleging that the men made inappropriate comments about her ethnicity and appearance.

MacGregor and Collins, who work as criminal defense lawyers, have denied all the allegations, court records show. They declined to comment on the case.

Portillo, a Latina, worked for MacGregor and Collins from August 2008 to December 2009.

The woman claims that each man called her a “stupid Mexican” who was “inherently stupid.” She also claims that she and other female employees were called an expletive used against women, belittled in front of co-workers and clients, told to lose weight and find a rich husband.

“It was the most hostile work environment I’ve ever worked in,” Portillo, 26, told the Daily Pilot. “I would stress every night, I’d be so miserable on Sunday nights thinking ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to go to work on Monday.’”

On several occasions, Portillo claims in her filing, that she was asked to show her breasts if she wanted something, such as a paycheck.

As a single mother with two children, ages 2 and 7, Portillo said she could not afford to quit until she found a new, better-paying job.

The plaintiff also claims she was told to act as a stripper for an attorney and his friends if she wanted to earn extra money.

Portillo also accuses an attorney of showing her pornography on his computer on three separate occasions and says that twice in the course of one year the men reduced her pay arbitrarily without notifying her, cutting her monthly income by nearly $300.

She also claims in her suit that they made her work long hours and weekends without paying her.

“I was going to hell every day, that’s how I felt,” Portillo said. “I want to prove all my allegations are true and for them not to get away with this. I don’t want anybody to go what I went through.”

Portillo resigned Dec. 5. She said she found a higher-paying job.