Supervisor Roberts And The Baying Hounds

San Diego news media are actively pursuing investigations into the conduct of County Supervisor Dave Roberts. By that, I mean that they are acting as publicists for women making allegations of a hostile work environment. The specter of former mayor Bob Filner looms large over the city and county. There were allegations about Bob Filner for years. The Democratic leadership in the state knew about Filner's behavior for years and ignored it.

Now the gimlet eyes of the trial lawyers have turned their attention to Roberts. Chief of Staff Glynnis Vaughan resigned on April 14, complaining of a hostile work environment. She retained the counsel of attorney Lynne Lasry, and sought a $75,000 severance package. When the County turned her down, she quit.

In her resignation letter, Vaughan cited herself as a defenseless employee trying to bring forward reports of abuse and perceived ethical misconduct. I haven't seen anything resembling abuse, and the closest thing anyone can identify as ethical misconduct is a $1,000 expenditure for baseball cards featuring Roberts' likeness.

A hostile work environment is a technical legal term. It forbids harassment based on protected status, such as sex, race, age, or religion. Oh, if only Vaughan could prove that Roberts, a married gay man, harassed her because she was a woman. Jackpot!

Former scheduler Diane Porter also resigned, after seeking a $34,000 severance package. She has retained counsel as well, and is seeking a $250,000 lump sum settlement. She worked for the county for a total of nine months. During that time it appears she did nothing but document a long list of grievances against the supervisor.

It appears the main grievance against Roberts is that he shows favoritism toward someone he hired himself. He hired Harold Meza and appears to favor him. There aren't any allegations of sexual misconduct, only anguish over a possible "appearance of impropriety," according to Vaughan.

The most serious allegation against Roberts appears to be instructing Porter to "send out campaign letters seeking early endorsements, and then instructing her to teach other staff members on how to do the same thing." This appears to be a use of county employee time for political purposes. I don't see how this is grounds for her wrongful termination lawsuit against the county. Especially since she wasn't terminated, she quit.

Political analyst John Dadian has been making the rounds on local news broadcasts. He describes the situation as "a bad situation getting worse, ... and every day a new story comes out." In other words, it's not the nature of the evidence, it's the seriousness of the charge.

I wanted to understand why I feel compelled to counter the weight of the accusations against Roberts. I guess it's the way the media is trying the man in public. Trying to say that four resignations in five months in a supervisor's office is de facto proof of guilt. The women trying to cash in is very unseemly. I'm the taxpayer here. If the county is legally exposed by his conduct, then the sooner he leaves, the better. Maybe I just like swimming against the current.

UPDATE Glynnis Vaughan has filed a $475,000 claim against the County. In her claim, she accuses the supervisor of "misusing county funds and creating a hostile work environment." I wonder how long before the word "misogyny" comes to be used to describe the supervisor. The dirty little secret of male homosexuality is that they practically invented misogyny. And all of the "traumatized" former staffers are women. Interesting to see whether women or gays are the more protected of classes in this dispute.