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# Playboy guard says he’s not gay, sues for sexual harassment
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/playboy-guard-says-hes-not-gay-sues-for-sexual-harassment/
- Published: 2002-03-12T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T00:07:29.000Z
- Author: Andrew Fixmer
- Tags: Government & Politics, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*Man claims boss accused him of wearing thongs and kissing men*

A sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Playboy magazine by a former employee who claims a supervisor mistakenly labeled him a homosexual will move forward in federal court.

Charles Martinez, who worked as a security guard, filed suit against the men’s magazine late last year because his supervisor, Jack Gonzalez — one of the company’s highest ranking security managers — wouldn’t stop accusing him of being gay.

Gonzalez told co-workers that Martinez, “likes to wear thongs with his dress on the weekends,” and instructed Martinez “to buy a thong bikini and wear it to work,” according to the complaint filed by Martinez’s attorney Clay Robbins III.

Martinez alleges Gonzalez continually asked him if he liked kissing men. “I told him that the only man I have ever kissed was my brother,” Martinez said in the lawsuit.

Martinez, who is married, insists he is heterosexual and he said can’t understand why his former boss decided otherwise.

But the ridiculing continued for over a year until Martinez was forced to quit his job after his authority had been completely eroded and his co-workers no longer respected him, Robbins said.

Martinez refused to be interviewed for this story. Martinez now works as a deputy for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Robbins said.

“Basically it’s a case based on claims that the supervisor of my client made his life a living hell,”

> “Basically it’s a case based on claims that the supervisor of my client made his life a living hell. It got so bad that my client was forced out.” — — CLAY ROBBINS III Attorney

Robbins said. “It got so bad that my client was forced out.”

Repeated calls to Gonzalez, who reportedly is in Los Angeles on Playboy business this week, were not returned.

Playboy’s attorney on the case, Barbara A. Fitzgerald, refused to comment.

According to Robbins, his client worked as a security officer for Playboy for more than ten years and thought he would retire with the company. In that time, Martinez never received a bad work review, he said.

Gonzalez, who is based at the company’s headquarters in Chicago, coordinated with Martinez on day-to-day security operations at the magazine’s West Coast facilities. The two also worked together on assignments at conventions and special engagements.

Several Playboy employees, including security officers Enrique Cruz and Michael Morrow, overheard Gonzalez making the slanderous accusations, Robbins said.

Martinez alerted his boss’ supervisors of the harassment he was facing in the workplace, but instead of trying to fix the situation, Martinez said the company officials told him to improve his attitude.

And after Martinez complained, Gonzalez began writing poor performance reports for him and making claims that he couldn’t perform his workplace responsibilities.

“He had a number of supervisors with no problems,” Robbins said. “Then all of a sudden Jack Gonzalez gets appointed and a reign of terror ensued.”

The suit accuses Playboy of sexual harassment and unfair labor practices. Martinez filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, but the department recommended he pursue legal recourse.

Martinez hasn’t asked for a specific amount in damages.

“He has already had to go through the turmoil and embarrassment in his life from this, so we are very at ease leaving that up to a jury to decide,” Robbins said.

The lawsuit, which was filed in Santa Monica Superior Court and alleges company officials condoned sexual harassment of Martinez, was moved to the Third Circuit Federal Court in downtown Los Angeles last month.

Attorneys for Playboy successfully removed Martinez’s case to federal court because the parties involved live in different states, officials said. Currently, the case is in the early stages and won’t be heard for a few months before a federal judge and jury.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 12, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/031202.pdf?ref=smdp.com)