A fifth SMUD employee is suing the Sacramento-based utility over racial discrimination, alleging he was targeted with poor reviews after he worked to end racially biased treatment of a Black woman who worked in his department.
Robert Adams, who is white, went to work for SMUD in March 2020 as a procurement manager. He alleged that SMUD’s highest officers have allowed “outrageous conduct” from Casey Fallon, director of procurement, warehouse and fleet at the utility. The lawsuit, revised for the first time on Sept. 10, was filed in Sacramento Superior Court.
Adams’ lawsuit detailed several instances of the conduct and how human resources and higher-ups at the Sacramento Municipal Utility District supported Fallon in his efforts to discriminate against either himself or senior procurement analyst Amy Ayers, who is African American.
In 2022, Ayers and three other Black SMUD employees on the procurement team — Dwayne Pugh, Rodney James and Deborah Bates-Pettaway — filed an employment discrimination lawsuit against SMUD , alleging that the utility’s leaders allowed Fallon to use his power and influence to prevent them from getting promotions. Their case is scheduled to go to trial in early October in Sacramento Superior Court.
In a written statement, SMUD officials said they had not yet been served with Adams’ complaint but that the utility would “vigorously defend itself” against the allegations.
“SMUD has a deep and visible commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace,” the statement read, in part. “SMUD is consistently recognized as a top regional employer and was recognized by DiversityJobs as a top diversity employer in 2024.”
In Adams’ lawsuit, the SMUD procurement manager said he witnessed Fallon single out Ayers for discrimination. Fallon scheduled a Sept. 21, 2023, on-site meeting with a contractor, requiring all team members to attend.
He then removed a web link that would have allowed employees to access the meeting on a live telecast, Adams’ complaint alleged. Instead, Fallon said he would make a recording of the meeting available later to those who couldn’t make it.
Adams told Fallon that Ayers had received an accommodation to work remotely because of a medical condition, the suit alleged, but Fallon went forward with the plan.
Ayers attempted to get a link to a live feed but was unable to do so, according to court records. When Adams informed her of this, she notified him that she would file a discrimination complaint.
In the court documents, Adams said he then alerted both Fallon and his supervisor, then-SMUD’s chief financial officer, to Ayers’ pending complaint, but when Adams contacted labor relations in November 2023 to check on the complaint, he said they had no knowledge of it.
By December 2023, however, SMUD launched an inquiry into Ayers’ complaint by a third-party law firm and informed Fallon of it, Adams complaint said. That investigation went to Terri Abad Levenfeld, a partner in Sacramento-based Levenfeld Winter.
“Fallon became increasingly irate whenever he had one-on-one meetings with plaintiff Adams,” Adams’ lawsuit stated. “Fallon assigned Adams unreasonable deadlines with a laundry list of random assignments. Fallon also tried to intimidate plaintiff Adams by getting very close to his face while becoming irate.”
Suit alleges discrimination began after support of Black employee
When Adams went for his interview with Abad Levenfeld, he tried to find emails that documented his actions but they had disappeared, according to the lawsuit. He also provided a timeline of events with Ayers to HR and reported to them that Fallon was subjecting him to retaliation.
After Adams met with HR, he said in his lawsuit, Fallon increased his retaliatory actions. Adams said he had received “very good” on his performance reviews since he arrived at SMUD, according to court documents, but for the first time, Fallon called him in for a disciplinary meeting and performance coaching.
Adams, who is being represented by the Velez Law Firm of Roseville, said in the suit that he again shared his concerns with HR but that his complaints of discriminatory behavior were not investigated.
In February 2024, Adams’ complaint stated, his review received a rating of “needs improvement,” preventing him from qualifying for either a merit increase or bonus. Since then, Adams said, he has received a disciplinary action and has been put on a performance improvement plan.
The lawsuit stated that Adams again reported Fallon’s behavior to HR, saying he was being subjected “associational race discrimination,” but SMUD did no investigation.
SMUD officials, in their statement, said: “Not only does SMUD believe the case to be without merit, but the allegations also include fundamental misrepresentations, including the purpose of his performance management and disciplinary action. While SMUD appreciates the plaintiff has removed false allegations from the amended complaint, his story continues to shift and significant inaccuracies remain.”
SMUD also said it does not tolerate discriminatory behavior or retaliation of any kind.
Ayers’ attorney Michael Justice said that, after conducting depositions with 15 or so SMUD employees and collecting thousands of pages of evidence, he is looking forward to showing how Fallon has prevented Black employees from climbing the ladder in its procurement department.
SMUD told The Sacramento Bee that complaints by Ayers and the other two Black employees had been investigated and were shown to be unfounded.
New information has become available since this story was first published. This story has been updated.
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