Fresno Unified trustees on Wednesday will hear a claim for damages from a campus safety officer who alleges her supervisor, a top district official and wife of another district official, trapped her in her car for 40 minutes and verbally abused her.

After the confrontation with Amy Idsvoog, executive officer of first response, safety & health, Stephanie Vasquez, now a retired safety department employee, went to the hospital where her troponin levels tested seven times higher than normal, Vasquez’s letter claims. Troponin is a key indicator of heart damage.

“Practically hyperventilating, I just wanted to breathe and get Amy out of my car,” the letter to trustees states. “Instead, Amy leaned even closer to me and firmly grasped my right wrist. As a safety specialist trained in verbal judo, I can tell you that this gesture was not intended to comfort me: this gesture was about control.”

The district has since reassigned Idsvoog to executive director of customer service, despite Fresno Unified adopting policies in 2024 saying it would not promote or reassign employees as accountability measures.

Fresno Unified did not respond to requests for comment, saying it does not comment on pending or active litigation.

If trustees deny the claim, a lawsuit can then follow. The letter cites civil battery, civil assault, false imprisonment, corruption, as part of 20 total violations. Attorney Howard Sagaser also filed a criminal complaint against Idsvoog.

In a separate lawsuit, Vasquez’s other supervisor, Walter Gunn, former executive director of safety and security, is also suing the district, alleging similar behavior from Idsvoog.

“I want the board to know that although the facts surrounding my harrowing experience are somewhat unique, if not bizarre, my experience is widely shared by FUSD employees,” Vasquez’s letter states.

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Vasquez’s complaints began when she says she was passed over for a promotion that was given to a male colleague who scored lower than her.

The district later created three new safety specialist positions, one of which Vasquez would apply for. Idsvoog was on the interview panel. Vasquez said in her letter that Idsvoog focused on her past union activities and complaints about the department.

“Amy asked me, ‘if I hire you, you know how the guys feel about you?’ She then clarified her remark by saying, ‘you know how the guys feel about you because of the Title IX complaint you filed against the department? You know they were not pleased about it, so how are you going to handle that?'”

Vasquez said safety officer Gunn, who also was on the interview panel, supported her application and Vasquez was ultimately hired.

Vasquez said sexual harassment complaints in the safety department were routinely not investigated and female employees were blamed for male colleagues’ actions. She cited one instance when a female employee was harassed about her clothing by Idsvoog and her husband Paul, another top-level official in the district, so much that she requested a meeting with then-Deputy Superintendent Misty Her. Her instead transferred the employee to another department.

Vasquez filed her own sexual harassment complaint against another colleague, but said a female employee was blamed for “failing to control this male colleague’s behavior.”

“Amy was trying to blame Charlene (Cardoza) for filing a complaint against Amy in March of that year,” the letter alleges.

Gunn’s lawsuit against the district says under Idsvoog, insider groups often harassed others and protected each other.

Idsvoog Traps Vasquez in the Car for 40 Minutes: Lawsuit

Vasquez alleges Idsvoog wanted to confront the safety officer about being absent from a training in August 2024. Idsvoog met Vasquez at Figarden Elementary School where Vasquez was supposed to oversee some construction.

Idsvoog parked directly behind Vasquez’s district vehicle and approached the passenger-side door. Idsvoog allegedly taunted Vasquez about not wanting to resolve a human resources complaint. When Vasquez made a comment about “having to work to get where I am,” Idsvoog appeared angry, the letter to trustees alleges.

Vazquez said Idsvoog then tried to get inside the locked car.

“I did the only thing I could think of doing. I acted like I couldn’t unlock the car. Undaunted, Amy shoved her whole right arm through the half-rolled-down window of the passenger door and clawed at the door until she found the unlock button,” the letter states.

Idsvoog then asked mocking questions to Vasquez, the letter states. The confrontation lasted 40 minutes.

Vasquez said the August heat already made her feel ill.

“I began to panic and struggle for air. I just wanted Amy to leave me alone, but she was determined to talk. I remember her asking me, ‘are you going to take ill, so that you won’t have to attend the meeting tomorrow? Because you need to be there!'” the letter states.

After Amy left, a colleague called for an ambulance. At Community Regional Medical Center, staff found Vasquez’s troponin levels seven times above normal, indicating heart damage.

Idsvoog Gets Reassigned

If the Vasquez claim becomes a lawsuit, that would make two lawsuits directly naming behavior from Idsvoog. The health department, which Idsvoog also oversaw, also has three lawsuits against it from school nurses. The Gunn lawsuit alleges Idsvoog has no background in safety. Idsvoog’s LinkedIn profile shows her background is in hotel sales.

After the Vasquez incident, Idsvoog would be reassigned from her position as head of safety and health, though it’s not clear when. The district previously told GV Wire that the reassignment was because of a “small reorganization following the departure of our chief academic officer.”

Idsvoog would go on to become executive officer of customer service.

In 2025, the district adopted an “effective staff” guardrail promising that the superintendent “will not allow the hiring, promotion, or lateral movement of staff who are performing ‘does not meet standard.’ as defined by CPSELs, CSTPs, and classified standards.”

The claim alleges other district officers attempted to cover up Idsvoog’s behavior.

Superintendent Her — then interim — reached out to Vasquez while she was in the hospital. Vasquez said she asked her to stop Idsvoog’s “antics” Misty told her to focus on getting better.

“When I later learned that Misty had created a special position for Amy as the head of customer service, I was so hurt that I nearly missed the comedy encompassing that decision,” Vasquez’s letter states.