California Treasurer Fiona Ma made it a habit to share hotel rooms with her chief of staff and other staffers in order "to save money."
Ma is now facing a lawsuit filed by a different former employee, accusing her of sexual harassment when the two women shared a room, according to reporting by the Sacramento Bee.
Judith Blackwell, the former director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, filed the suit alleging that Ma exposed herself and crawled into bed with her when they shared a room at a hotel and a rental property. Ma also encouraged Blackwell to stay with her in Sacramento instead of driving home to the Bay Area after work, the suit alleges.
"During the time Ms. Ma shared a room with Plaintiff (Blackwell), she exposed her bare rear end directly to Plaintiff on multiple occasions," according to the lawsuit. "Ms. Ma’s actions were intentional and not accidental, and it was done to get Plaintiff’s attention. Plaintiff was uncomfortable and was fearful to comment on Ms. Ma’s lewd behavior."
Ma has refused to settle with Blackwell on multiple occasions. The allegations in the lawsuit are "baseless," said Ma.
Ma frequently also shared rooms on business trips with a different aide, chief of staff Genevieve Jopanda, on at least 13 of their trips to Sacramento during Ma’s first two years in office.
On one trip in particular, Ma rented a three-bedroom property in Citrus Heights, where she stayed with four unnamed aides.
Although California’s Human Resources manual for state employees does not have any policies on whether managers should share hotel rooms with their subordinates, it doesn’t seem like a wise choice, according to Laura Kray, a professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
"It crosses boundaries and puts subordinates in a very difficult position to say no, even in the most innocent of cases where we’re just trying to save money," Kray said. "Because of the power dynamic, I don’t think people would feel free to say no, and would worry about retaliation."
Ma did not respond to a question about whether she thought it was appropriate to share rooms with her subordinates.
In the lawsuit, Blackwell says Ma offered to let her stay in a Sacramento hotel when Ma noticed Blackwell was leaving work after 7 p.m. to make her one-hour commute home.
"Ms. Ma also would occasionally invite Plaintiff to dinner, and by the time dinner would end it would be impractical for Plaintiff to drive home and come back early the next day," the lawsuit says. "Therefore, Ms. Ma invited Plaintiff to stay at the Westin hotel in Sacramento, CA where she would have her own room paid for by Ms. Ma."
The lawsuit by Blackwell, an African-American woman, also alleges racial discrimination. Blackwell says "she felt her employment was contingent on her accepting Defendant Ma’s sexual advances" and that she was terminated for rejecting them.
Blackwell’s complaint alleges Ma invited Blackwell to stay at the Westin with her and Jopanda beginning in early 2020, although expense reports reviewed by The Bee show Ma was staying at the Best Western in Sacramento during that time.
"Travel arrangements are made to maximize efficiency and minimize costs to taxpayers consistent with all ethical and legal requirements," Jopanda said in a statement.
On one report filed by Jopanda and approved by Ma, for a room at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel in downtown Sacramento, is this notation: "The treasurer and the chief of staff stayed in the same room to save money."
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