A former cleaner for a Lakeville drywall company who says she was fired after she reported sexual harassment that escalated to rape on the job, was joined by the state of Minnesota on Tuesday in her effort to hold the company accountable.
The lawsuit, filed by Norma Izaguirre and the state Department of Human Rights, charges Izaguirre’s former employer, Absolute Drywall Inc., with employment discrimination and retaliation.
Izaguirre was joined at a news conference on Tuesday by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero in announcing the lawsuit.
Izaguirre, accompanied by an interpreter, said she was nervous as her hands shook and she stumbled through the opening sentences of a written statement in Spanish.
“I’m very thankful that my voice can be heard,” she said before pausing to collect herself.
Izaguirre worked on the Viking Lakes apartment complex in Eagan and at another site in Rochester where she helped remove construction materials and clean the site after drywall hangers completed their work.
She alleges she was sexually harassed and assaulted multiple times between January and September 2021.
One of Izaguirre’s job duties was cleaning bathtubs at a worksite. While doing so in May 2021, Juan Diego Medina Cisneros, Izaguirre’s coworker, allegedly raped Izaguirre at the Viking Lakes site, acccording to court documents.
Medina Cisneros had met Izaguirre at a restaurant in Burnsville before she began working for Absolute Drywall and was the person who suggested she apply for a job at the company. He was a crew leader, according to court documents.
Izaguirre reported the harassment she sustained to superiors at Absolute Drywall five times, but company officials failed to take action, and even berated her for reporting the harassment, according to court documents. Instead Izaguirre had her hours cut before she was eventually fired.
Medina Cisneros wasn’t reprimanded for his actions and instead promoted shortly after Izaguirre’s termination, according to court documents.
Absolute Drywall and the company’s lawyers did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.
The company is owned by Daniel Ortega, according to court documents. Ortega was the last person Izaguirre reported her concerns to in September 2021 before being terminated, according to court documents.
During Tuesday’s news conference announcing the lawsuit, Ellison called on other workers who have been victims of similar conduct at their jobs to come forward and speak to his office and the state Department of Human Rights.
“Absolute Drywall fell abysmally short of providing that environment for their employees, so today, we are taking action. By filing to join this lawsuit, we are making it clear that what happened to Norma is completely unacceptable,” Ellison said.
The lawsuit by the state and Izaguirre is a civil suit that followed an investigation by the state’s Department of Human Rights.
Lucero said Absolute Drywall violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act fostering a workplace culture that allowed sexual harassment and assault to go unchecked.
It’s a widespread issue in the industry. Nearly one in four women working in construction experience “near constant” sexual harassment on the job, Lucero said, citing a 2021 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy and Research.
Izaguirre is an immigrant from Mexico who came to the U.S. in 1997 and eventually settled in Minnesota in 2001.
Lucero emphasized the state would look into any claims of harassment regardless of the victim’s immigration status.
“We do not ask or look into anyone’s immigration status. We are looking for discrimination itself. That is what we’re focused on. Discrimination should not happen in Minnesota,” Lucero said.
Izaguirre’s lawsuit is only against Absolute Drywall, but according to her, there are other companies out there that need to be held accountable.
While Izaguirre has worked for good employers, she said the industry still has “problems of harassment” that persist.
“I hope that by standing up for myself and speaking out that all women feel empowered and all the employers are held accountable,” Izaguirre said.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, just over 14% of construction employees are women.
Medina Cisneros was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the border in Texas in 2024, when biometric information was taken and showed he had an outstanding criminal warrant.
In February 2025, he pleaded guilty to felony criminal sexual conduct in Dakota County, according to a news release from the state.
