State to pay $350K to settle sex harassment case against Treasurer Fiona Ma

The three-year old sexual harassment case against California State Treasurer Fiona Ma has ended in a $350,000 settlement -- though the war of words between attorneys continues.

The news was widely reported on Thursday after the California Department of Justice signed off on the deal.

But the attorney for plaintiff Judith Blackwell, San Francisco-based Waukeen Q. McCoy, submitted a notice of settlement on Aug. 15. The state will pay $350,000 to settle Blackwood's claims. A trial was scheduled to begin on Sept. 9.

"Over the last couple of months, we finally came to an amicable resolution," McCoy said when reached on Friday. "I think my client was happy to get this behind her. I hope that Ma at some point takes some accountability for her actions towards my client, but overall, I'm really excited about the resolution."

Blackwell was the executive director of the California Tax Credit Allocation Committee from 2019 until Ma fired her in 2021. The committee, which administers the federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Programs, is under the State Treasurer's office.

She alleged that Ma pressured her to stay in the same hotel room when the two travelled on business trips, exposed herself to Blackwell against her will, and attempted to get into bed with her. Blackwell also claimed retaliation and racial discrimination. Ma has repeatedly denied these claims.

The case was delayed for months in 2022 during a discovery dispute. Ma's attorney repeatedly requested Blackwell sit for a deposition, but McCoy claimed she was too ill because of a stroke and other health problems. Blackwell v. Ma, 34-2021-00304120-CU-CR-GDS (Sac. Super. Ct., filed July 13, 2021).

McCoy filed the notice of settlement days after attorneys with Gavrilov & Brooks substituted in to represent Ma. Ognian A. Gavrilov, managing partner with the firm, has spoken to the media on Ma's behalf since news of the settlement broke. Gavrilov did not respond to an email seeking comment by press deadline on Friday.

But McCoy said he negotiated the settlement with Deputy Attorney General Graham Mills. He said he took issue with some of Gavrilov's public statements.

"The case settled before he even substituted in as the new counsel," McCoy said. "His substitution had no bearing on the resolution of this case. He's out there saying that we caved because he's a trial attorney. I've been trying cases for 30 years and I don't care who is on the other side. I'd never heard of him."

"It's between them and the state," Gavrilov said. "They're just dropping Fiona Ma from the case."

Gavrilov confirmed that the state, not Ma, agreed to pay $350,000 to end the case. He said Ma objected to the settlement, but that the agreement put her in "an interesting situation." As the chief fiscal officer for the state, he said, Ma did not feel that she could fight the state's decision to settle.

"When I was brought to try the case, they ran away from an amount that was nominal for this kind of case," Gavrilov said.
Ma is running for lieutenant governor. In February she transferred $50,000 from her campaign to a legal defense fund. Records from the California Secretary of State's office show the fund has paid thousands of dollars to two other law firms, Larson LLP in Los Angeles and the San Francisco-based Sutton Law Firm, as well as $2,000 to a private investigator.