Assessor accused again of harassment
Co-worker says she’s fed up with Kramer’s behavior toward women
Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer likely sexually harassed two female employees in his department, according to an investigator hired by the county to look into the workers’ complaints.
In one text message, the assessor told a subordinate that he wanted to “have you all to myself.” The woman said Kramer also shared stories of encounters with other women and told of giving a sex toy as a gift, according to county records obtained by the
Bay Area News Group through a public records request.
It wouldn’t be the first time that 68-year-old
Kramer — recently elected to another four-year term — has been accused of behaving inappropriately in the workplace. In 2009, the county paid out $1 million to settle a complaint by Bernice Peoples, who worked in the assessor’s office. During her tenure, she accused Kramer of sexual harassment, racial discrimination and retaliation.
The latest incidents occurred between 2008 and 2015, according to the 55 pages of records that include letters summarizing the investigator’s findings and related documents. The investigator’s report itself was not released by the county, citing attorneyclient privilege. Kramer declined to comment directly about the issue.
On June 18, County Administrator David Twa wrote to one of the accusers — associate appraiser Margaret Eychner — saying an independent investigator determined it was “more likely than not” that on several occasions in 2014 and 2015, Kramer “made comments that were not appropriate in a workplace environment and that made you feel uncomfortable.” He wrote a
similar letter to another female employee whose sexual harassment complaints for inappropriate comments made in 2008, 2013 and 2015 were sustained by the investigator.
Twa declined to comment about whether Kramer had been disciplined for the recent findings, saying it was a confidential personnel matter.
Eychner said Kramer should be held accountable.
“Honestly, I’d love for him to resign. We have a terrible culture in the office right now, and he’s the root of it,” said Eychner, who has worked in the county department for a decade. “I’m doing this for the other women in the office. This guy needs to stop toying with people.”
Eychner, 50, of Walnut Creek, said she filed a formal complaint after receiving a Jan. 5 email sent to all county employees from Board of Supervisors Chair Federal Glover and Twa encouraging them, in light of the #MeToo movement, to report misconduct. She also had just learned Kramer planned to run for re-election.
The documents show that Eychner had complained to a female supervisor about the harassment nearly three years ago but heard nothing more about it until early
this year when she asked the supervisor and was told she had shared Eychner’s concerns with Kramer informally.
Eychner’s formal complaint, filed Jan. 16, included a list detailing her allegations. The county hired outside attorney Terry Roemer to investigate; however, the probe was not completed until after Kramer was reelected in June. He ran unopposed.
Eychner alleged Kramer sat in her cubicle once and shared a story about giving a sex toy as a Christmas present. Eychner, who was her department’s labor representative, said that on one occasion, Kramer told her he would discuss negotiations only if they went for a drive alone in his car.
“I was so very uncomfortable being in the car with him. I made it a point after this situation to never be (alone) privately with him,” Eychner wrote in the complaint.
She alleged Kramer would constantly visit her cubicle after learning of her pending divorce, and she would “cringe” as he shared stories of encounters with women. During 2014 union negotiations, Kramer texted her to meet him in the lobby of the county administration building and, when she arrived, he presented
her with a rose, she alleged.
Kramer also texted Eychner saying, “I wanted (to) have you all to myself,” and in August 2014, Kramer, who was on vacation, sent her a text saying that she should be there with him. He apologized in a text the following day, according to texts Eychner provided to this newspaper and the investigator.
The second employee has not come forward publicly. But in a letter included in the documents released by the county, Twa wrote that her allegations against Kramer were about “comments of a sexual nature.” None of the allegations involved inappropriate touching.
In an email Thursday, Kramer declined to directly comment on the allegations, instead asking a reporter to review a 2015 Board of Supervisors meeting archived video, without saying why. The supervisors honored Kramer at that meeting for 40 years of county service, and before the meeting started, Eychner is seen sitting two seats away from Kramer in the gallery.
“A picture is worth a thousand words ... a video is worth even more . ... If you don’t see what everyone else sees ... please don’t call me back,” Kramer wrote in an email, declining to clarify.
Eychner originally came forward with the complaints in October 2015 to Assistant Assessor Sara Holman, one of the highest ranking employees in the department, according to emails and five pages of Holman’s handwritten notes included in the records. The second woman also came forward then.
In an email earlier this year, Holman advised Eychner that she had handled the complaint informally and that no written report was prepared.
“At the conclusion of our meeting, I advised you that I would discuss your concerns with Mr. Kramer, which I did. You agreed with this informal approach,” Holman wrote.
Holman did not respond to a request to comment, and Twa said he could not comment on her actions, citing confidentiality restrictions.
In June, Twa notified Kramer that the allegations against him were sustained and reminded him not to retaliate. In his letter, Twa noted the investigator found no further harassment after 2015.
Former Concord City Attorney Michael Martello, who now teaches government ethics classes, said government agencies are required to keep a workplace safe.
“If the report found nothing has happened since (2015), then that’s a good thing, but safeguards should be put in place to prevent it from happening again or at least reported early,” he said.
In 2009, the county reached the $1 million settlement with Peoples after a jury rejected 11 of her 12 claims but found Kramer had retaliated against her after she filed a sexual harassment complaint against him in 2000. The county had cleared Kramer of that 2000 complaint. At the time of the settlement, the county said that it made the deal to limit taxpayer exposure.
Among Peoples’ allegations was that Kramer offered her a motel room key. Unrelated to the claim, her attorney at the time shared a video from the 1999 assessor’s office Christmas party where Kramer came into a hotel banquet room wearing women’s lingerie with a garter belt and stockings. Men and women stuffed money into his garter belt as he danced to “Super Freak.”
Kramer previously said the Christmas party dancing was “done for entertainment.”