LAS VEGAS (KTNV — Before then-Public Administrator Robert Telles was charged with murdering Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Jeff German, staffers who worked for Telles asked the county for help.
They accused Telles — an elected official — of acting as though he was above the law, and they accused the county of turning a blind eye.
They turned to German who wrote about their plight. After several articles were published and others were pending, German was found stabbed to death, with Telles arrested for his murder.
The newly-filed lawsuit documents employees' disturbing experiences, asking the court to hold Telles and the county accountable.
READ FULL LAWSUIT: Clark County women suing former boss by jarah.wright on Scribd
"The first year he was in the office, he had episodes of what I would call pure rage and it would be the smallest little thing that would set him off. And it was totally unfounded and unprovoked," said then-Assistant Public Administrator Rita Reid in October 2022.
Reid, who is now the duly elected Public Administrator, is one of the four women who filed suit on Friday.
"There were signs that he might do something harmful," Reid said back in 2022.
WATCH: Rita Reid talks to ABC News in 2022, offers new insight on Robert Telles
In the lawsuit, Telles is accused of "concerning behaviors" and cruel targeting of the employees that "intensified over a period of three years" up until Telles was removed from office.
The women say he used his power and position to "intimidate, humiliate, degrade and isolate" them, harassing and retaliating against them when they reported his behavior.
"And it's a shame. It's a real shame ... The harm that's been done," Reid said.
In the lawsuit, Reid says Telles made it clear that no one was to report to her or seek her help. He allegedly insulted her age, accused her of spying and berated her in front of others. She says the stress become so overwhelming that she could not sleep, feared coming to work and would often cry while driving to work.
"I watched people shake when he would come to work," said Janelle Lea, who is not one of the named plaintiffs in the lawsuit but saw the effects of Telles behavior firsthand during her time in the Public Administrator's Office.
"I saw it get worse," Lea said in 2022. "I saw employees get more depressed and scared."
WATCH: Employee from Public Administrator's Office speaks out
Plaintiff Jessica Coleman worked in an area called the vault, where deceased persons' possessions were kept. Coleman said in the lawsuit that she feared for her safety around Telles, and that he used the vault environment to get inappropriately close to her, almost touching her or positioning himself in a way that left her trapped until he left.
At one point, the lawsuit says Telles "Leaned within inches of Coleman's face and told her that she would die alone, and no one would find her for a long time..." She says it got so bad that she contemplated suicide, even picking a location where she planned to hang herself.
The lawsuit accuses Telles of making sexual advances and behaving inappropriately with many younger female employees, saying any who rejected him were isolated and treated with hostility.
Plaintiff Aleisha Goodwin says Telles touched the small of her back, stroked her arm, brushed hair away from her face, blatantly stared at her breasts and waited until they were alone in an elevator to get physically close to her and make inappropriate statements about how she smelled and looked.
When she rejected his sexual advances, the lawsuit says he became hostile, and started making religiously-charged comments about her LDS faith, accusing her of knowing people in the "Mormon Mafia" and saying he was scared of "who she might know and what they could do to him."
Telles is also accused of playing favorites when it came to offering overtime, positioning employees for promotions, and allowing certain employees to work during the COVID shutdown. In particular, the lawsuit names Roberta Lee-Kennet, with whom Telles is accused of having an affair.
WATCH: County employees complained about Rob Telles' behavior and alleged inappropriate relationship
The lawsuit says the county's Human Resources department and its Office of Diversity continuously ignored and brushed aside employees' numerous complaints about Telles' behavior, eventually telling Goodwin that her "complaint was moot, and therefore closed, after Telles was arrested."
"Couldn't somebody just let this person know this is not proper behavior, not professional, not appropriate?" Reid asked in 2022.
All four plaintiffs in the lawsuit say they had to seek mental and physical health care in order to cope with what they experienced under Telles.
Telles is currently in jail awaiting trial on the charges that he murdered Jeff German.
A Clark County spokesperson said they are unable to comment on pending litigation.
