At least one of the workers mentioned in the internal complaint that Movimiento Sumar filed against former general coordinator Lara Hernández has opted to take a further step and go to the Labor Inspectorate, so that this body can investigate whether they were a victim of workplace abuse by the leader.
According to documentation accessed by Europa Press, a formal request was submitted to this body, dependent on the Ministry of Labor, on June 3, requesting the opening of proceedings to clarify whether Hernández's behavior towards this employee could constitute workplace harassment.
The document submitted to the Inspectorate mentions the Sumar parliamentary group in Congress, as it is the legal entity with which the complainant had an employment relationship and where the reported events allegedly took place. In this case, the person requesting the Inspectorate's action performed the functions of an advisor to the parliamentary group.
Sources familiar with the proceedings indicate to Europa Press that the Inspectorate has already initiated proceedings and that an official from this body has taken a statement from the complaining worker, who is currently no longer affiliated with Sumar. They also add that other employees could join this complaint, even though they are aware that these types of behaviors are difficult to prove.
Lara Hernández: "I HAVE A CLEAR CONSCIENCE"
Meanwhile, the former Sumar coordinator has indicated to Europa Press that, for now, she has not received any official communication about a potential investigation opened by the Labor Inspectorate. In any case, she states that she is willing to collaborate in everything necessary, as she will be "delighted to defend herself and to demonstrate her innocence and honorability wherever necessary." Furthermore, she has insisted that she has a "clear conscience."
Last Wednesday, Hernández publicly announced her departure from Movimiento Sumar after the internal investigation activated through the organization's anti-harassment protocol for alleged mistreatment of several workers was shelved.
In that appearance, he stressed that the internal complaint was promoted by six political officials and that the file was closed on Sunday the 28th, once the employees mentioned in the writing decided not to continue with the procedure. For this reason, he proclaimed his innocence, claimed to be the object of a "brutal smear campaign," and censured that "slander" had been uttered which, in his opinion, has been proven "false."
Other party sources indicate that the anti-harassment commission informed the workers involved of the closure of the file, specifying that the resolution was adopted for procedural reasons and without ruling on the merits of the accusations.
Criticism of the internal protocol and referral to the Inspectorate
In parallel, some of these employees sent a letter in which they warned that the internal commission of Movimiento Sumar "does not provide sufficient guarantees" and, for that reason, refused to authorize the process to continue.
In that document, to which Europa Press also had access, they described this body as an "indolent space," complained that their anonymity was not adequately protected, and regretted that their request to provisionally remove Lara Hernández while the file was being processed had been rejected. In that context, several workers had already expressed their intention to go to the Labor Inspectorate, a route that one of them has finally taken.
From the former leader's circle, they maintain that this entire procedure is a political maneuver. They directly point to the parliamentary spokesperson Verónica Martínez Barbero and consider that the aim would be to discredit Hernández and thwart the possibility of articulating a new consensus leadership in the movement.
This internal crisis, still ongoing, occurs on the eve of the Movimiento Sumar assembly, for which a single list is running that does not include people close to the former coordinator and from which some of the organization's most relevant figures disappear.
In the new structure, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, is emerging as the main political reference, while the organic leadership will fall to the spokesperson in Congress and Secretary of State, Rosa Martínez.