Former Artesia city manager, council members retaliated after misconduct complaints, lawsuit allegations – Orange County Register

City Clerk Artesia and its former chief of staff allege in a lawsuit joined by former City Manager William Rawlings and three City Council members of ignoring employee complaints about revenge, sexism, elections and financial misconduct.

Ernesto Sanchez, secretary, and Boyd Horan, director of human resources, filed separate civil claims last week in Los Angeles County Superior Court against Rawlings and council members Tony Lima, Monica Manalo and Ali Sajjad.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, describes the defendants’ alleged conduct as “malicious, deceptive, oppressive, and despicable.”

Rawlings, Lima, Taj and Manalo could not be reached for comment on Monday, February 21.

Board members how to break up with Rawlings in October 2021 after city employees complained he was unfit to lead.

The alleged employee that Rawlings presented a budget that did not include actual city expenditures and accused him of berating and belittling workers. One employee complained Rawlings had not been to City Hall for 12 months during the COVID-19 pandemic, but asked other staff members to be present.

Los Angeles County sheriff detectives are investigating possible felonies related to the 2020 Artesia City Council election, requesting texts, voicemails and memos between Rawlings, Lima , Manalo and Sanchez, according to a search warrant from late last year obtained by the Southern California News Group.

Alleged election interference

Sanchez, who is in charge of running city elections, alleges that Rawlings told him in August 2020 of any action related to upcoming City Council elections, including including contacts with prospective candidates, “must be run by him first.”

“This caused a purported delay in the delivery of application packages to at least two Artesia city residents who expressed a desire to be a candidate for City Council,” the lawsuit states. .

Rawlings was also accused of directing Sanchez not to be present and unresponsive to potential candidates seeking to run for office with Lima and Manalo, who ultimately ran. The suit does not name potential applicants. However, Tony Simoes and Venkatesh Koka told Southern California News Group that they had attempted to apply for seats held by Lima and Manalo, but had not been provided with paperwork by the city.

According to the lawsuit, Sanchez complained to Horan about Rawlings’ instructions regarding the election and other misconduct.

“Boyd informed Mr. Sanchez that city policy requires him to file a complaint with Rawlings,” the lawsuit says. “Because Mr. Sanchez feared retaliation from Rawlings and ultimately lost his job, he withdrew his complaint.”

In November 2020, the City Council adopted a discrimination and harassment policy that allows city employees to make complaints to city attorneys and city managers.

According to the lawsuit, in May 2021, Sanchez filed a contract complaint with City Attorney Hong Doe Nguyen about Rawlings’ election interference, selective enforcement of certain rules and guidelines for concealment. or misrepresent information provided to other government agencies, including those that finance Artesia.

At the same time, other city employees raised concerns with Nguyen about Rawlings’ unethical and illegal behavior, the lawsuit said.

Council refused to investigate

However, Lima, Manalo and Taj voted against investigating the complaint and the City Council reversed its policy in November 2020 allowing employees to bring their complaints to the city attorney, lawsuit stated. As a result, employees were again asked to bring complaints to Rawlings, including complaints directed at him.

“Not surprisingly, given the city’s failure to take any effective action to address the complaints about him, Rawlings’ treatment of Mr. Sanchez worsened after he complained. with the city attorney,” the lawsuit states. “In many cases, Rawlings stripped Mr. Sanchez of his duties and often criticized him. Rawlings also continued to commit illegal acts and continued to direct Mr. Sanchez and others to do the same.

“As a result, Mr. Sanchez has suffered unbearable working conditions that make it almost impossible to continue working for the city of Artesia.”

More complaints, retaliation

The lawsuit filed by Horan, who began working for the city in January 2018, alleges Rawlings forbade him from speaking to City Council members about complaints from city employees.

Horan learned that on September 13, 2021, Rawlings wanted to fire an employee who complained he had not received adequate notice that a co-worker had tested positive for COVID-19, the lawsuit states.

Horan complained about Rawlings’ alleged intent to retaliate against then-Mayor Rene Trevino, informing him that it was illegal to terminate an employee for a workplace safety complaint. According to the lawsuit, Trevino told Horan he would talk to a city attorney about his complaint. However, a week later, Horan was fired in retaliation for his complaints about Rawlings, according to the lawsuit.

Horan filed a complaint on November 12, 2021, against the city of Artesia with the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment. He has exhausted all administrative handling measures with the agency.

Joseph Markus, the attorney representing Sanchez and Horan, said the charges show how whistleblowers can run into problems when trying to report their superiors.

“It is a prime example of a city government run by a city manager who has lost control and a City Council that heads and ends in disaster,” he said.