Former Costa Mesa City Manager Farrell Harrison opens up on firing in lawsuit
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Former Costa Mesa City Manager Lori Ann Farrell Harrison — terminated by the City Council on May 6 after a series of closed-door meetings with no explanation — offered her own version of events in a legal complaint filed last week.
In a July 7 petition filed with the Orange County Superior Court, Farrell Harrison claims she was retaliated against after bringing forth allegations Mayor John Stephens had violated numerous laws and created undue liability for the city.
She further asserts she became the victim, instead of the accuser, when council members began secretly discussing her ouster in improperly noticed closed session meetings, even as the city hired an outside firm to investigate the claims against Stephens.
“How the city moved from trying to solve a serious liability with Mayor Stephens’ potentially illegal activity to a public firing of its well-respected, accomplished city manager has but one answer: the city retaliated against Ms. Farrell Harrison for her protected disclosures,” the lawsuit states.
The former city manager claims that on March 28, she notified three members of the City Council about her concerns about Stephens, alleging conflicts of interest, quid pro quo activities and gender and racial discrimination toward city employees.
Although she was told efforts would be made to privately encourage the mayor to voluntarily course-correct, Farrell Harrison was informed on April 14 one of the officials, Councilmember Loren Gameros, was no longer interested in speaking to Stephens about the alleged behaviors and instead suggested Farrell Harrison consider taking an early retirement.
The following evening, Councilmember Andrea Marr, during a regular meeting, called for an urgent closed session meeting that day to discuss “potential litigation” and, on April 16, Farrell Harrison was told city leaders had approved an outside investigation of the allegations against Stephens, the petition states.
The Council Tuesday voted 4-2-1 to terminate Lori Ann Farrell Harrison, who came to the city in 2019. Opponents of the move issued warnings about Costa Mesa’s future while backers remained silent.
The city manager was also told the panel had agreed to agendize a talk on her workplace performance at the upcoming May 6 regular council meeting, even though the subject had not been publicly noticed and her annual performance review would not be on the calendar until later this year.
“Such a discussion was unlawfully held during the agendized ‘potential litigation’ item,” the lawsuit claims.
Ahead of that fateful meeting, Farrell Harrison created a presentation on her accomplishments for the performance evaluation and compiled a 14-page workplace complaint cataloging Mayor Stephens’ alleged illegal activities, titled “Formal Complaint — Mayoral Potential Conflicts of Interest, Illicit Interference, and Undue Influence in City Operations, Permitting and Contracts.”
That document, she claims, was developed with other members of the city’s executive team, including department heads, “based on their interactions with the Mayor and his request for inappropriate or unlawful activities.”
Despite requests made Monday by the Daily Pilot to City Atty. Kimberly Hall Barlow and Farrell Harrison, including a public records request made to the city, the 14-page workplace complaint against Stephens had not been provided as of press deadline.
According to the lawsuit, on the afternoon of her termination, Farrell Harrison sat in a break room, waiting on what she believed was an update on the investigation into Stephens’ actions and her workplace performance presentation. Instead, council members were voting on her dismissal.
Prior to the meeting, the lawsuit states, a local union president at City Hall was reportedly told by Councilman Gameros right before the closed session meeting, “[Y]ou watch, we’re going to switch this whole thing around — instead of this being about the mayor, we are going to make it about Lori Ann.”
Gameros made the motion to terminate Farrell Harrison during the closed session, a move seconded by Councilmember Mike Buley and passed in a 4-2-1 vote, with Councilmembers Arlis Reynolds and Andrea Marr opposed and Stephens abstaining, City Atty. Barlow reported in open session.
Ultimately, it was Barlow who broke the news of the firing to the city manager, according to the lawsuit.
“Ms. Barlow emphasized that she was not there to give legal advice and expressed her sincere apologies for what had happened,” the suit reads. “Ms. Farrell Harrison later learned that an outside attorney (not Ms. Barlow) was hired to advise the city council on the termination.”
Calls and emails to Farrell Harrison and Barlow seeking comments were not returned Monday. Councilmember Gameros also did not return a call and message on the subject.
Reached by phone Monday, Stephens did not comment specifically on the lawsuit or the allegations therein.
“Because this is an active case I can’t comment in detail, but the city has a response to all allegations in the petition, and it will be presented to the court at an appropriate time,” the mayor said.
Farrell Harrison’s petition seeks to have a judge rule on whether the council sessions violated the Brown Act, which governs how public meetings are to be conducted, and to either nullify her May 6 termination or perform an “in-camera” private review of documentation phone logs and correspondence leading up to the decision.
In addition to attorney’s fees and further relief, Farrell Harrison is also seeking to have closed session meetings video recorded for a period of up to three years following an entry of judgment in the matter, according to the lawsuit.
Although the petition was submitted last week, court records indicated Monday the city had not yet been notified in writing of the filing. Once proof of service has been delivered, Costa Mesa will have 30 days to file a response with the court.
