Someone Named in the Suit for Alleged Wrongdoing … Filed Their Own Suit Against the City in February
Within a span of six months, two former municipal workers filed lawsuits against the City of Santa Monica with concerns related to unlawful termination and wrongful practices.
Plaintiff Araceli Esparza, who brought the most recent suit forward in the Los Angeles Superior Court on July 30, is seeking unspecified damages over the alleged wrongdoing. Representatives from the City and the City’s Attorney’s Office did not immediately provide a response to inquiry.
Hired in May of 2012, Esparza held several positions for the City including Purchasing Services Manage and Procurement Manager, in addition to acting as an Equity Inclusion Officer and organizer for Hispanic Heritage Month activities, as stated in the suit.
After addressing City Council in 2020 about a dispropriate number of minority City workers being laid off compared with caucasian ones, the lawsuit alleges, Esparza faced a series of retaliations such as being excluded from meetings that her colleagues could attend, kept out of committees relevant to her job and received an email copied with several peers that falsely accused her of lying about the number of minority layoffs.
Esparza alleges to have been the victim of further unfair reprisal upon addressing how City funds were spent.
In September of that year, the lawsuit states that Esparza met with the Interim City Attorney and the Deputy City Attorney to report contracts exceeding $250,000 with nonprofits not first approved by City Council; thus in violation of a municipal code. Earlier that year, she reported a City employee who was using a fake invoice for payments despite the City withholding funds from the individual for wage violation, and that the employee’s actions were approved by her direct supervisor. The following year, Esparza reported a potentially illegal procurement procedure for a multi-million dollar contract, further addressing concerns that her supervisors didn’t disclose conflicts of interest with the awarded entities.
After being placed on administrative leave pending an investigation over “inserting herself” into a co-workers reimbursement request, the lawsuit states an email was sent to the entire finance department falsely saying Esparza took a “leave of absence.” According to the suit, this showed evidence of the City’s “retaliation and disparate treatment of [Esparza].”
The suit states that Esparza was terminated from her position in May of 2023, the same month that negative investigative findings against her were sustained.
As a consequence of the aforementioned events, the suit states Esparza has suffered economic, physical and mental damage; such as that of her professional reputation and ability to be selected for another position, in addition to losing pension and other benefits. An excess of $25,000 has been accrued due to medical expenses for anxiety, anguish and overall mental suffering, the lawsuit states.
The suit accuses several City officials of participating, approving or condoning the alleged retaliatory conduct against Esparza, including City Manager David White, Assistant City Manager Susan Cline, Deputy City Manager Anuj Gupta, Chief of Staff Christopher Smith, among others.
One person the suit names as involved in wrongful behavior is Lori Gentles, the former Human Resources Director, who brought forward similar accusations against the City about six months ago in the Superior Court of California, County of L.A., also alleging that those actions caused damage to her mental well-being.
According to that suit, Gentles made complaints during her tenure about “institutionalized racism” with the City, specifically towards her and other employees who resigned due to “disparate treatment received based on their race.”
It also alleges that the former HR chief attempted to implement changes which would’ve eliminated discrimination, but was retaliated against for doing so, while also being “held to a different standard” than her White counterparts within City leadership. Another detailed instance occurred in April 2021, when Gentles received a complaint of a White City worker allegedly saying “we could just lynch him” in reference to a Black man. When Gentles reported the matter, she was allegedly laughed at by the man who was subsequently appointed to run the case’s investigation.
