California treasurer often shared hotel rooms with staff, documents show

California’s Treasurer Fiona Ma repeatedly shared edifice rooms with employees, a signifier she says saved wealth but that concern experts contend crosses an ethical enactment and tin pb to lawsuits similar 1 Ma present faces, the Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday.

Judith Blackwell, the erstwhile caput of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee, sued Ma successful July, alleging intersexual harassment, radical favoritism and wrongful termination. Ma said the allegations are without merit.

Records obtained by the Bee amusement Ma shared a edifice country with her main of staff, Genevieve Jopanda, 13 times implicit 2 years. She besides stayed with 4 different aides astatine a three-bedroom spot connected a trip. There’s nary argumentation successful the state’s quality resources manual connected whether managers and unit tin stock edifice rooms.

Ma said her enactment arsenic authorities treasurer often requires her and aides to question crossed the authorities and that the edifice rooms were shared to prevention money.

“Travel arrangements are made to maximize ratio and minimize costs accordant with each ethical and ineligible requirements,” Ma said successful the statement. Jopanda gave a astir identical connection to the Bee.

Several concern experts said it’s a questionable signifier for managers to stock rooms with subordinates, who whitethorn consciousness pressured to accidental yes adjacent if they are uncomfortable astir doing so.

“It crosses boundaries and puts subordinates successful a precise hard presumption to accidental no, adjacent successful the astir guiltless of cases wherever we’re conscionable trying to prevention money,” Laura Kray, a prof astatine the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business told the Bee. “Because of the powerfulness dynamic, I don’t deliberation radical would consciousness escaped to accidental no, and would interest astir retaliation.”

Ma, a Democrat, was elected authorities treasurer successful 2018. The treasurer manages authorities investments, serves connected the committee of its pension funds and oversees programs that supply taxation credits for affordable lodging and financing for nationalist works projects. She was antecedently elected arsenic a subordinate of the Board of Equalization and the authorities Assembly.

Blackwell’s suit alleged that Ma exposed her backside and crawled into furniture with her portion the 2 shared lodging during a May 2020 trip, and that she gave Blackwell gifts including jewelry and edible marijuana, the Bee reported. Blackwell nary longer works for the authorities and her suit besides alleged radical favoritism and wrongful termination.

The suit said Blackwell “felt her employment was contingent connected her accepted Defendant Ma’s intersexual advances” and that she mislaid her occupation for rejecting them.

Blackwell’s lawyer, Waukeen McCoy, said she was fired successful January, the Bee reported. Her termination came aft Blackwell suffered a changeable successful September 2020 that enactment her retired of enactment for 2 months. When she returned to enactment she was fixed other tasks that often kept her astatine enactment late, Blackwell’s suit said. Blackwell, who is Black, alleges she was replaced by a little qualified achromatic woman.

“I americium not commenting connected the pending litigation different than to accidental that Ms. Blackwell’s claims are without merit and I look guardant to prevailing successful court,” Ma said successful a connection Tuesday to the Associated Press.