A longtime municipal employee is suing the City of Santa Barbara, City Administrator Paul Casey and former Finance Director Bob Samario, alleging that Samario sexually harassed her and several other women over the course of more than a decade, and that the city ignored or turned a blind eye to the behavior.
Jennifer Tomaszewski, the city’s finance and treasury manager and former interim finance director, alleges in a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Santa Barbara County Superior Court that the city spent a minimum of $100,000 investigating allegations against Samario.
According to the lawsuit, the review generated a 150-page report detailing years of alleged harassment against multiple female employees.
After the conclusion of the investigation in February 2020, the suit alleges that Casey, rather than terminating Samario, allowed him to retire with full benefits and a positive news release thanking him for his years of service. His retirement was abruptly announced on Feb. 26, 2020.
“The sexual harassment by Samario subjectively offended plaintiff on an almost daily basis, and was sufficiently pervasive and severe as to alter the conditions of her employment and create a hostile, intimidating and/or abusive work environment,” the lawsuit alleges.
Samario did not respond to an email from Noozhawk on Wednesday evening seeking comment on the lawsuit, and Casey declined to comment.
However, City Attorney Ariel Calonne did provide a statement.
“I am very surprised to see this kind of news release from an attorney,” he said. “We will investigate these claims seriously and go from there.”
Tomaszewski also alleges that Casey retaliated against her by refusing to hire her for the permanent finance director position because of her involvement in the investigation and because of her gender, “despite being praised for her work by other city officials during the financial crisis caused by COVID-19.”
The lawsuit details several allegations against Samario, including that he began flirting and inappropriately commenting on Tomaszewski’s appearance, clothing and fitness, and telling her she was attractive.
Samario often made comments about her height and teased her about wearing flat shoes instead of high-heel shoes, according to the lawsuit.
Samario also “relentlessly asked plaintiff to show him her tattoo and, when she refused, Samario told her that she needed to be more vulnerable and trust him more,” the lawsuit states.
Several times, Samario asked Tomaszewski what she was like in high school, and said, “I bet you had a lot of boys chasing you,” according to the suit.
Samario also allegedly asked Tomaszewski several times to bring in pictures of what she looked like in her 20s, and to “bring in pictures of her with her two daughters,” the lawsuit claims.
Samario had met one of Tomaszewski’s daughters and spoke several times about her body and how beautiful she was, according to the lawsuit.
The suit also alleges that Samario consistently told sexually charged jokes and talked about racy movies to and around female employees, including Tomaszewski.
He allegedly frequently pressed Tomaszewski to tell him her “deepest, darkest secrets,” which made her extremely uncomfortable. He stated that it was necessary to further build trust between them, according to the suit.
The lawsuit details a litany of other allegations about Samario and his alleged behavior.
In October 2019, according to the suit, Samario asked Tomaszewski if she knew how beautiful she was and asked, “Are you one of those women who use your looks as a tool in your tool kit, or do you not realize how beautiful you are?”
Tomaszewski responded that she would rather be known for the quality of her work. She kept trying to change the subject, but he wouldn’t let it go, the suit claims.
That same month, Samario sent Tomaszewski a photo of several young men, including Samario’s son, who was not wearing a shirt, according to the lawsuit.
Samario asked her if she thought his son was good-looking, and if she thought the son looked like him, the lawsuit claims.
In addition, the lawsuit claims that Casey overlooked the behavior.
Samario’s womanizing and sexual harassment was a “badly kept secret” at the city, the lawsuit claims, and “it was looked at as just Bob being Bob.”
According to the lawsuit, in October 2019, less than a week after Samario was put on administrative leave, Casey asked Tomaszewski what she would think if he appointed one of two other subordinate male employees to the interim finance director position.
One of those male employees was hired after Tomaszewski was promoted, to fill her prior position, and was friends with both Samario and Casey, she alleges.
Tomaszewski claims in the lawsuit that she was surprised, and asked Casey why he was not appointing her since she was No. 2 in the department and next in line for the position.
Casey responded that “it would not look good to appoint her, given the nature of the investigation,” the suit claims.
At least two other high-ranking officials involved with the city told Tomaszewski that Casey and the City Attorney’s Office were more worried about Samario suing the city for defamation than the women who were allegedly victimized by Samario, the suit claims.
Tomaszewski claims that the city required her to perform all of Samario’s job tasks, along with her own, while appointing the assistant city administrator as interim finance director.
It was well known by everyone in the organization, including the assistant city administrator, that Tomaszewski was actually performing the interim role, the suit claims.
The city did not increase Tomaszewski’s salary while she was performing both jobs during the investigation, nor did it give her any of the benefits affiliated with the finance director position, she claims.
The suit was filed by Santa Barbara attorney Christina Humphrey.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
