Lawsuit accuses city clerk of discrimination; no Black person promoted since 2011, lawyer says
Elizabeth Maland, who was San Diego's city clerk for 17 years, allegedly has a history of refusing to promote workers she deemed too old or who weren't White or Hispanic.
A lawsuit against San Diego and its recently retired city clerk alleges long-standing discrimination, with an attorney claiming no Black person under Elizabeth Maland’s supervision had received a promotion since 2011.
The lawsuit was filed by attorney Michael Conger on behalf of current and former city staffers Ivy Blackwood-Evans, Samantha Ely, A. Trida Hughes and Sabrina Tatum. Ely is of Japanese and Native American descent, while the other three plaintiffs are Black, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.
The four women allege that Maland — who was city clerk for 17 years and spent more than 30 years working for San DIego — had a history of refusing to promote workers she deemed too old or who weren’t White or Hispanic. They are all 50 or older.
Conger claimed that Maland denied those employees access to the training needed for a promotion. He said he believes the city’s equal employment division needs stronger authority to stop any alleged discrimination.
“If the city had looked at the last 10 years, they would have seen a clear pattern,” Conger said, according to The Union-Tribune.
The lawsuit, filed in December, also accuses Maland of harassing employees by using demeaning language — including saying, “I own you,” to an employee whose heritage includes enslavement — and retaliating if anyone complained about her behavior. Despite learning of Maland’s alleged discrimination, harassment and retaliation, the suit claims, city officials did nothing.
Maland’s alleged bias and provocation caused Hughes to resign, according to the lawsuit; the city still employs the other three plaintiffs.
The duties of the high-level role of city clerk include overseeing elections, organizing agendas for City Council meetings, handling records with an emphasis on transparency and processing passport applications.
Maland was in charge of a $6 million annual budget and nearly 50 full-time employees. Her chief deputy, Diana Fuentes, was named interim city clerk.
In a statement to The Tribune via email, Maland referred to the lawsuit’s allegations as “repugnant” and “antithetical” to what she stands for. While she had long intended to retire this year, she said the litigation, filed on Dec. 14, and caring for her mother, who has Alzheimer’s disease, sped up the process.
“The baseless lawsuit filed in December by folks I have worked with for years was just the breaking point for me,” Maland said, according to The Union-Tribune.
Members of the City Council described Maland as the embodiment of professionalism and grace with exceptional patience working with the public when she announced her retirement in January.
“I hope that my decades-long record of public service and the professional and compassionate way I comported myself during that time will speak for me in my absence,” Maland added, The Union-Tribune reported.
The San Diego city attorney’s office had no comment on the lawsuit.
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