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A new lawsuit alleges that Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer secretly promised to support Michael Vu for the open position of San Diego County chief administrative officer last year — if he agreed to hire her favored candidate as his top assistant. But according to his legal complaint, Vu rejected the illegal deal, and so did his former boss, the now-retired CAO Helen Robbins-Meyer. “Mrs.
Robbins-Meyer was so upset and disturbed by the action that she went on record to confirm, complain and report it in writing to County Counsel Claudia Silva the same day that Ms. Remer proposed the backroom deal,” the suit says. “She heard nothing in response.
” Instead of being named to succeed Robbins-Meyer, as Vu says the outgoing CAO preferred, he was demoted and saw his pay cut by the new chief before he resigned in October, his lawsuit adds. “As a direct result of this wrongful action, Mr. Vu has lost his employment with the county and suffered a substantial and ongoing loss of compensation and benefits,” it says.
The lawsuit accuses the county, Lawson-Remer and former Supervisor Nora Vargas of defamation. It also accuses the county of illegal retaliation and illegal discrimination, saying it passed over Vu for the CAO job at least in part because he is Asian. It seeks economic and punitive damages, attorney fees and more.
A San Diego County spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday that the agency is committed to keeping the workplace free from discrimination and retaliation. “We take all allegations of workplace misconduct seriously and have many resources for any employee to report concerns including a 24/7 ethics hotline,” spokesperson Tammy Glenn said by email. “The county will address the allegations of Mr.
Vu’s complaint in court.” Lawson-Remer did not immediately respond to the lawsuit Tuesday but denied the allegations last fall, after Vu filed his initial claim against the county. “This is not the first disgruntled employee who has filed a lawsuit when they did not get hired for a job,” she said in October.
Vargas, who stepped down early this year just weeks after winning reelection, could not be reached Tuesday, but last year she also rejected his allegations she did not support Vu for the CAO position due to his race. According to the claim Vu filed last year, Vargas told Robbins-Meyer “we need a person of color” for the job. When the former CAO answered that Vu was Asian, Vargas allegedly said: “That doesn’t count, they have opportunities and education.
We need a Hispanic or Black.” Vargas denied the allegations in a statement last year. “I unequivocally deny making any statements that promote or condone discrimination based on race, ethnicity or national origin,” she said at the time.
“The allegations made against me are not only false but totally contradict my values and record of public service.” The defamation claim in Vu’s lawsuit is based on his assertion that both Lawson-Remer and Vargas defamed the former county official in the public comments they made in response to his legal claim last year. “The public reasonably understood these statements (by Vargas and Lawson-Remer) to mean that Mr.
Vu was dishonest and disgruntled as an employee,” the lawsuit states. “This hurt his reputation.” Robbins-Meyer had been scheduled to retire after nearly 25 years with the county in 2023.
But she delayed her departure that spring after then-Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said he would resign . Robbins-Mayer remained through much of last year, when the board named executive Sarah Aghassi the interim chief administrative officer. The Board of Supervisors later appointed Ebony Shelton , a Black woman and assistant CAO, to the top position.
According to his lawsuit, Vu was the candidate favored by Robbins-Meyer. Vu alleges that Lawson-Remer agreed to support him for the top job provided he agreed to name Paul Worlie as the assistant CAO. Worlie, who had previously served as chief of staff to Fletcher, did not respond to requests for comment last fall.
The lawsuit implies that Robbins-Meyer will be a key witness in the case. “Mrs. Robbins-Meyer was a direct and independent witness to their wrongful statements and actions refusing to support Mr.
Vu’s promotion to CAO, and that she was a respected, very credible witness with no motivation to lie,” it says. Vu collected just over $320,000 in base pay in 2023, his last full year with San Diego County, according to the Transparent California online database of public salaries. The case was filed Thursday and has been assigned to Judge Carolyn Caietti.
A case management conference has been scheduled for Sept. 12..
