While sex scandals have rocked Santa Ana and Orange County government in recent years, both continue to allow managers to date people they supervise and whose promotions they oversee. Spokespeople for the city and county confirmed last week they do not have rules prohibiting sexual or romantic relationships between managers and subordinates. DA employees told the grand jury about multiple instances of unwelcome sexual behavior and touching between management and subordinates, as well as sexual images sent via text and email.
DA officials say they are required to meet with employee union representatives about it and are doing so. Aside from conflicts when it comes to promotions, such relationships can create other problems beyond promotions, according to ethics experts. They are often viewed with suspicion by other employees, and can even open the door to lawsuits.
If the subordinate is promoted, others could see it as blatant favoritism. Several public agencies take a stronger stance than Santa Ana and the county. The city of Los Angeles has a similar policy among employees in its personnel department. Officials there decide on a case-by-case basis how to handle relationships between managers and subordinates, according to Epifanio Peinado, the chief deputy director of human resources.
Five years ago, Orange County was rocked by a scandal in which a public works executive, Carlos Bustamante, was charged with sexually assaulting several women who worked for him. Some of the relationships began as consensual, but later took a darker turn in which Bustamante forced himself upon them, the women testified in court. He pled guilty to felony counts of stalking, attempted sexual battery by restraint and misdemeanor false imprisonment, assault and attempted sexual battery.
But after five women came forward with harassment allegations in , the county investigated their claims and fired LaDucer. He denied the claim. Spitzer directed county staff to draft a countywide policy addressing consensual intimate relationships between employees.
