An executive with the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services has been accused of sexual harassment and retaliation against senior staff.
Kendra Bowyer, a former California OES employee who helped manage the state's relief efforts from wildfires and other disasters, says in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Sacramento County Superior Court that Gov. Gavin Newsom She claimed that she was sexually harassed by Ryan Blass, the deputy director she appointed. It lasted for about a year starting in 2020.
His actions came despite four other women previously coming forward with similar allegations to agency management in 2019, according to the complaint. The complaint says authorities failed to take appropriate action.
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“Our goal is to hold the government accountable for allowing this to go on for so long,” said attorney Tanya Gomerman, who is representing Mr. Bowyer.
Gomerman said authorities should conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations against Blass. The lawsuit seeks restitution from Brass and California OES for claims that include sexual harassment, retaliation and a hostile work environment.
Blass did not respond to an email requesting comment on the allegations.
California OES does not comment on personnel matters or ongoing litigation, but “nothing is more important” than the safety and well-being of its employees and the broader public, department spokesman Brian Ferguson said in a statement. .
“Sexual harassment in the workplace is an affront to our values as an organization,” he wrote. “There is no room for it at Cal OES and it will not be tolerated in any form.”
A California emergency services worker has been accused of sexual harassment and retaliation. (Fox News)
The charges against Blass range from inappropriately telling her that Bowyer should dress “more feminine” to trying to leave her alone in a hotel room to grabbing her hand in public. It covers a wide range of things. During another incident, Blass invited Bowyer and her co-worker to his apartment for dinner and drinks, asked them to stay the night, and Bowyer crawled into the bed where she was sleeping, her complaint alleges. There is. She said she woke up with Blass “wrapped around the back of her body.”
Newsom appointed Blass as deputy director for recovery operations in 2019, after Blass spent more than a decade in various roles at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In Blass' role at Cal OES, he is leading the state's recovery from disasters.
Gomerman said Bowyer repeatedly told Blass to stop what he was doing. Ultimately, after Bowyer declined Blass' advances, she faced retaliation that included restricting her access to the resources she needed to do her job, the lawsuit says.
Ms. Blass' actions prevented Ms. Bowyer from providing essential services to disaster survivors and caused her extreme stress, anxiety, and depression, leading to doctors diagnosing her as “totally disabled” in 2021. the lawsuit alleges.
“When I finally confronted him and said this has to stop, he cut me off from all the resources I needed to do my job,” Bowyer said.
California OES conducted the investigation after Mr. Bowyer underwent a medical examination as part of his leave of absence. According to the complaint, she received a letter later that year stating that Blass had not acted inappropriately.
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Bowyer decided to pursue legal action after learning of similar allegations against Blass from a colleague she had confided in.
