FRESNO - Two former employees accuse Court Appointed Special Advocates of Fresno and Madera counties (CASA) of wrongfully terminating them after they reported unethical behavior.
The complaint was filed on April 19 in the Fresno County Superior Court by plaintiffs Jason Williams and Cynthia LoMonaco. Williams was a program manager with CASA and LoMonaco was an outreach specialist.
Both plaintiffs noticed unethical and potentially illegal activity in their executive director, Wilma Hashimoto, the suit claims. Hashimoto was allegedly observed applying for grants through an organization that her personal best friend was the director of, and using inside information from her friend to secure the grants that CASA was not qualifying for, thus taking the funds from other organizations that needed them.
Hashimoto also allegedly awarded contracts to personal friends for projects within CASA, such as rebranding, that were valued at tens of thousands of dollars without going through the proper competitive contract process. Neither of Hashimoto's friends who were awarded the contracts delivered on the products they were hired for, costing CASA greatly, the suit claims.
The director also hired unqualified people as a favor to her friends, according to the complaint, and ordered the plaintiffs to work overtime without reporting the extra hours worked.
Both plaintiffs were terminated after bringing their concerns to the board, the suit says.
The defendant is charged with unlawful retaliation in violation of public policy, hostile work environment, gender discrimination, Ralph Civil Rights Act violation, adverse employment actions, wrongful termination, open book accounting violation, failure to compensate for all hours worked, failure to provide meal and rest periods and PAGA violations.
The plaintiffs are represented by the Law Office of Jeremy M. Dobbins.