Two women working under District Attorney John Sarsfield
recently filed a complaint with San Benito County claiming the
prosecutor is having an affair with his office manager that has
created a hostile and discriminatory working environment.
Two women working under District Attorney John Sarsfield recently filed a complaint with San Benito County claiming the prosecutor is having an affair with his office manager that has created a hostile and discriminatory working environment.
Victim Witness coordinator Katie Fancher and the division’s victim advocate Julie Roybal allege in the complaint the district attorney has had an affair with office manager Nancy Leon, according to their lawyer Bill Marder.
The same affair was alleged in a separate court motion in May. The motion led to Sarsfield canceling a grand jury probe of the District 5 supervisor’s race.
Marder confirmed Monday that he sent a letter to the county June 9 alleging the problems and warning of a lawsuit. And the county’s personnel director Liz Brown confirmed she received a threat of litigation June 9 against both San Benito and an employee, but she didn’t discuss details or names. Brown also confirmed a county investigation into that complaint is under way.
Sarsfield and the women may hold settlement talks in an attempt to avoid a suit, according to lawyers from both sides. And the county retained a law firm that specializes in employment issues as its counsel, according to sources, and confirmed Monday by the lawyer assigned to the matter, Richard Bolanos.
The firm – San Francisco-based Liebert, Cassidy & Whitmore – hired an investigator to conduct an internal probe of the District Attorney’s Office, Bolanos said. He declined to comment further on specifics of the complaint or the investigation.
Brown, although speaking only in general terms about the claim, said San Benito must investigate the matter. She said it’s prudent to “get all the facts straight.”
“An allegation is nothing more than someone is saying something happened, and we’re looking into it,” Brown said.
Because the two women filed a claim – a necessary precursor to a lawsuit in such cases – the county is legally obligated to conduct an investigation, according to Marder.
Sarsfield on Monday didn’t return calls to his office and cell phone, and didn’t respond to a fax with questions on the matter.
Sarsfield’s lawyer out of Monterey, Jon Giffen, said Monday he hadn’t seen the complaint. He did confirm knowing of it and said there have been “preliminary” discussions about holding settlement talks outside of court. It’s unclear what the two parties would consider as a settlement to avoid a suit.
Sarsfield denies the allegations in the complaint, Giffen said.
“I think the claims ultimately will be found to be baseless, and my client will be exonerated,” Giffen said.
The women are confident their view is correct, Marder said, “because it was engaged in an obvious and blatant way.”
“It was just thrown in everyone’s faces and done so indiscreetly that no one could ignore it,” Marder said.
Fancher and Roybal believe the alleged relationship has fostered a working environment where Sarsfield has frequently shown favoritism toward Leon, according to Marder. The complaint also alleges that, with the exception of Leon, Sarsfield has favored men employed in the office, Marder said. There are 11 employees in the office – including three other attorneys, three secretaries and an investigator.
Most recently, Marder pointed out, Sarsfield proposed a reorganization of the District Attorney’s Office that would have given Leon more authority and demoted Fancher below the office manager on the chain of command. Currently, Fancher and Leon have equal authority and report only to Sarsfield. Roybal would have been bumped to the lowest level on the chain of command.
Marder also said Sarsfield and Leon often have been out of the office together for large portions of workdays since his tenure began in January 2003. The alleged affair has not ceased and continues to cause hostility and grief within the office, Marder said.
“It (legal action) is the only way they feel the situation can be corrected,” he said.
Fancher has been head of the Victim Witness division – which counsels victims of crimes – for 17 years. Roybal has worked in the office as second in command for 19 years and often serves to translate for Spanish-speaking clients.
Fancher declined to comment when reached at home Monday. And Roybal could not be reached.
Local union head John Vellardita, who represents the Victim Witness workers, declined to comment on the matter Monday.
“Those are pending issues, and it would be irresponsible for me to make comments to the press right now,” Vellardita said.
Two county supervisors reached Monday, Reb Monaco and Ruth Kesler, also declined to comment on the matter.
County officials, though, have already made one adjustment because of the affair allegation. The Board of Supervisors on May 25 indefinitely postponed Sarsfield’s proposal to reorganize the office.
That was a day after Supervisor-elect Jaime De La Cruz’s campaign adviser, Ignacio Velazquez, filed court documents alleging the same affair. De La Cruz and Velazquez were facing a grand jury probe of felony indictments for alleged elections code violations.
The court motion claimed the alleged affair created a conflict of interest for Sarsfield. Leon is related to Mickie Luna, a leader of the League of United Latin American Citizens organization that spurred accusations against the candidate and his adviser.
Velazquez’s claim prompted Sarsfield to drop a grand jury probe because the prosecutor said it prejudiced him against the two. Sarsfield referred the matter to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Kollin Kosmicki can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 331 or at
kk*******@fr***********.com
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