Fiona Ma accepted ‘improper gifts’ as treasurer, woman who accused her of harassment alleges

The woman suing California Treasurer Fiona Ma for sexual harassment is arguing in court that Ma harassed her in an attempt to obscure “unlawful conduct” and “improper gifts” from Sacramento-area businessmen.

The allegation comes from documents filed by the legal team for Judith Blackwell, who is suing Ma alleging the treasurer sexually harassed her while the two shared lodging on work trips. Blackwell’s lawyers made the claims in filings to compel Ma’s team to produce more documents related to the case.

Ma has denied the allegations in Blackwell’s lawsuit, and says she is confident the truth will come out in court. In response to the new claims in the most recent filings, Bob Magnuson, a spokesman for the Treasurer’s Office said simply: “These allegations are not related to the current litigation.”

Blackwell’s lawyer Waukeen McCoy said he’s developing a theory that Ma was intimidating Blackwell to prevent her from interfering with improper action she witnessed at the treasurer’s office.

“We think there’s something that went on there,” McCoy said. “We think that’s why Ma was using her power to intimidate Blackwell and run her out of there.”

Reporting by The Sacramento Bee revealed last year that Ma has a pattern of sharing hotel rooms and rental lodging with staffers on work trips. McCoy told The Sacramento Bee that the owner of a local caviar company, Eugene Fernandez, would bring caviar for Ma and her staff to eat on those trips. In the filings, McCoy alleges that Ma accepted improper gifts from Fernandez, as well as Rick Lobley, owner of Ink restaurant in midtown Sacramento.

Fiona Ma has posted to social media about Ink a number of times, but it’s not clear in the filings what gifts Blackwell’s lawyers are accusing her of accepting from the restaurant’s owner.

In the filing, Blackwell’s lawyers do not provide evidence or details about their claims, but say Ma engaged in “unlawful conduct.”

“Ma engaged in a campaign of harassment against Plaintiff in an attempt to force Plaintiff to ignore Ma’s unlawful conduct related to Brightline Railway and the Sonoma Waste Management project in addition to the acceptance of improper gifts from Rick Loebly (sic) (owner of Ink Restaurant) and Eugene Fernandez (owner of Sterling Caviar),” Blackwell’s lawyers wrote in a motion filed in court earlier this month. “Ma utilizing off site locations to harass Plaintiff and meet with private business owners was routine and these documents are highly relevant to the claims and defenses in this matter and must be produced.”

The filings do not provide evidence backing up the allegations and instead seek to have Ma’s attorneys turn over documents related to the accusations.

Bloomberg reported in December that the train developer Brightline was in close contact with Ma’s office related to its application for state subsidies from a board that Ma chairs. Bloomberg reported that Ma’s staff had coached the developer on how to craft its application, but the article noted that close communication with entities lobbying state government isn’t illegal.

McCoy said his requests for documents related to Brightline and Fernandez were prompted at least in part by reporting by Bloomberg and The Bee. He said he could not reveal his sources for his claims related to Lobley and the “Sonoma Waste Management project.” He said he believes both Fernandez and Lobley gave Ma free food.

Sonoma County Waste Management Agency Executive Director Leslie Lukacs said she didn’t know what Blackwell’s lawyer was referring to in the filing. She said the agency doesn’t have any relationship or connection to Ma that she’s aware of. She said she wasn’t sure whether her agency was the one mentioned in the filing.

“I can’t even think of where there would even be a connection, because we just work on local policy and projects,” said Lukacs, whose agency has rebranded itself as Zero Waste Sonoma. “I can’t imagine we’d get involved with anything at the state level.”

The Bee previously asked Fernandez if he ever gave Ma caviar. He said he “would on occasions bring Caviar for social gatherings like I still do with friends.”

Representatives for Lobley, Fernandez, Ink and Brightline did not respond to emails requesting comment.

Elected officials must report any gifts, including meals, that they receive from any source who gives them more than $50 worth of gifts in a year, and cannot accept gifts from a source totaling more than $520 in a year. California makes exception for gift exchanges on birthdays, holidays and similar occasions, where officials can exchange gifts of roughly equal value with others.

On her financial disclosure forms, Ma has not reported any gifts from Fernandez, Lobley, Sterling Caviar or Ink. She has reported gifts from other sources, including a $70 bottle of wine from the Napa County Farm Bureau and $4,800 in airfare, lodging and meals for trips to Portland and Seattle from the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy.

This story was originally published February 16, 2022 at 5:00 AM.