Clark County employees file federal lawsuit against accused Las Vegas murder suspect Robert Telles

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Four employees of the Clark County Public Administrator’s Office filed a federal complaint to sue their former boss Robert Telles and the county for creating a hostile work environment before he was arrested and accused of killing a Las Vegas investigative journalist and later removed from his elected position.

According to the lawsuit complaint filed with Nevada’s U.S. District Court on Friday, May 17, attorneys wrote the four women said Telles discriminated, harassed, and retaliated against them after they reported his behavior to the county. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial.

Rita Reid, the current elected public administrator, reported directly to Telles when he started the public administrator job in 2019 after winning the election. The office protects the property of deceased county residents while a search is conducted to find a family member or executor.

Reid alleges Telles “humiliated, degraded, and intimidated her” by making comments about her age and referring to her as an “old-timer” even going so far as to berate her in front of employees and strip her of her official duties, the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, Reid said she could not sleep and feared coming to work.

Another employee, who worked in the vault where the possessions of deceased persons are held, alleges Telles would enter the vault and “sit so close to her that they were almost touching or position himself in a way that left her trapped until he left.” The lawsuit states on one occasion, Telles yelled at her then backed her up against a fence in the vault to keep her from leaving and grabbed her arm. In another alleged incident, he told her “she would die alone.”

A different female employee accused Telles of touching the small of her back, stroking her arm, staring at her breasts and making inappropriate statements about her body and perfume while the two were in an elevator. According to the court documents, the employee filed two complaints with Clark County.

When Telles became aware of formal complaints about him, he allegedly retaliated against the employees involved.

One employee, who served as a witness on a complaint, alleged that although she had high seniority and qualifications, she was furloughed during the COVID shutdown while employees with less experience, but in good standing with Telles, were allowed to work in the office. That employee had to use most of the paid-off time she had banked to continue getting a paycheck.

The complaint states the employees are suing for compensatory damages for injuries, pain and suffering.

Telles is currently in custody awaiting his murder trial in the 2022 stabbing death of Jeff German who wrote several stories for the Las Vegas Review-Journal about Telles’s behavior. State prosecutors said Telles believed German’s stories caused him to lose his re-election bid for the public administrator seat.

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