District Attorney John Sarsfield has until Friday to enter
settlement talks with two women who filed a complaint against him
over an alleged affair with his office manager, or else they plan
to file a lawsuit Monday.
District Attorney John Sarsfield has until Friday to enter settlement talks with two women who filed a complaint against him over an alleged affair with his office manager, or else they plan to file a lawsuit Monday.
Sarsfield’s side would have to offer money as part of a settlement to avoid a suit, according to the lawyer representing the women, Bill Marder. He declined to say how much the women would seek.
The Board of Supervisors, in closed session Tuesday, authorized spending $5,000 in county funds to pay for Sarsfield’s lawyer during mediation in the event he does agree to settlement talks. Sarsfield requested that funding, according to County Counsel Karen Forcum.
The board approved the expense because supervisors would like to resolve the matter without the drawn-out and potentially expensive court process, Forcum said. Sarsfield wants to avoid a suit, too, his lawyer Jon Giffen said.
Sarsfield on Wednesday didn’t return calls to his office and cell phone. But Giffen confirmed he’s considering the offer to mediate.
He said Sarsfield, by agreeing to settlement talks, would not be acknowledging the affair allegation is true. Giffen has said the district attorney denies all the claims.
“There’s no acknowledgment of any allegation in the complaint,” Giffen said.
The two women, Katie Fancher and Julie Roybal – who make up the victim witness division of the office – filed a complaint with San Benito on June 9 threatening litigation against Sarsfield and the county. In the complaint, they allege he’s having an affair with office manager Nancy Leon that has led to favoritism toward her and a hostile workplace. They also allege, besides Leon, he has discriminated against women in the office.
Supervisor elect Jaime De La Cruz’s campaign adviser recently alleged the same affair in an unrelated court motion relating to the District 5 election scandal.
The county, meanwhile, is continuing its own investigation of the complaint and will wait until that probe wraps up to potentially join settlement talks, said Marder and county lawyers.
San Benito retained a San Francisco law firm specializing in employment issues as its counsel on the matter. That firm in turn hired an investigator, whose probe of the office is not complete.
“The county is conducting an investigation to try to be able to have a factual basis to work with Mr. Marder,” Forcum said.
Forcum said Sarsfield’s standing as an elected official allows him to pursue mediation on his own – if he so chooses.
Marder also said Wednesday that Sarsfield initially agreed to mediation, but that lately the district attorney has been “up in the air” over holding settlement talks.
The two sides have shopped around for an independent mediator, who Marder estimated would cost about $6,000 a day. A mediator’s job is to talk with both sides and offer unbiassed resolutions.
Such mediation usually lasts one day, said Marder, who settles about 75 percent of his mediated cases without going to court.
If the women are awarded money through mediation or a lawsuit, the terms of a settlement or civil ruling would determine whether Sarsfield or the county would pay the bills, according to Richard Bolanos, the county’s lawyer with Liebert, Cassidy & Whitmore. Both he and Forcum said it’s too early to tell whether the county would be held liable.
Still, if money is involved, Marder expects San Benito County would have to foot the bills, he said.
“If it didn’t come from the county, where would it come from? It’s hard to believe he would go out of pocket,” Marder said. “It’s an awful lot of money for someone who’s not paid a ton.”
Regardless, Marder said money is “probably the least important” factor to the women.
“These are people, their whole career is in the Victim Witness program,” he said. “They want to see a commitment to remedying things in the office.”
Some of the hostile work
environment claims against the DA:
– He allowed his office manager to work less than 40-hour weeks and attempted to promote her to a role above the victim witness coordinator, who currently reports only to Sarsfield
– He took away the office of Fancher and Roybal, though offices are necessary for the “very sensitive nature” of their work with victims
– He demoted a female deputy district attorney from handling felonies to misdemeanors
– He behaved “in an openly rude and contemptuous manner” toward women in the office
Source: Complaint filed with the Department of Fair Employment and Housing on June 16
