Ex-City Employee Sues Over Racial, Spending Concerns In Santa Monica: Suit

SANTA MONICA, CA — A former city finance manager is suing the city of Santa Monica, claiming she was retaliated against for voicing concerns about municipal spending and job layoffs for people of color.

In her July 30 suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Araceli Esparza is seeing unspecified damages. The suit, filed against the city, claims several high-ranking city officials participated in, allowed or condoned the retaliatory behavior.

Esparza was hired in 20212 as a purchasing services manager and was promoted to procurement manager in 2018, a job that saw her plan, manage and direct the city's procurement and supervising other staffers, according to the suit.

She also was an equity inclusion officer and she served as president for American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 4819 union from 2020 to 2024, according to the suit.

The suit claims that Esparza in 2020 spoke at a City Council meeting about what she believed were a high number of layoffs of people of color in the city.

"Plaintiff felt it was her duty to report these statistics, not only because of her role as procurement manager, but also because of her role as an equity inclusion officer advocate," the suit reads.

Esparza claims that city officials retaliated against her in response, preventing her from being in meetings and keeping her off committees relevant to her job.

"These acts of retaliation, taken together as a whole, prevented plaintiff from getting exposure with city managers and city directors, ultimately affecting her promotability and her ability to move up in her career," the suit alleges.

Esparza also claims that the city human resources director falsely accused her of lying about the layoffs.

Additionally, Esparza claims she reported to the City Attorney's Office in 2021 concerns about the award of multiple contracts to a nonprofit organization. The contracts, in excess of $250,000, were not first approved by the City Council. She also raised concerns about other city transactions that worried her, according to the suit.

Esparza was put on administrative leave in August 2022, according to the suit, which claims the city finance director told her was because she inserted herself into a coworker's tuition reimbursement request that warranted the city beginning an investigation. Esparza contends the involuntary time off was related to her reporting the alleged illegal procurement procedures as well as her concerns regarding minority layoffs, according to the suit.

The city's negative investigative findings against Esparza were sustained in May 2023 and she was fired the same month, the suit states. Esparza's income has been negatively impacted, as has her mental well-being, the suit states.

A city spokesperson declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

City News Service contributed to this report.