LA County workers shocked and outraged by CEO’s $2M payment, union leaders say

Leaders of the two largest L.A. County employee unions say many of their members have been shocked and outraged to learn county CEO Fesia Davenport negotiated a $2 million payout to herself, after they say she told workers there was no money to give them raises.

It comes as the CEO remains on a months-long leave, and an attorney challenges the legality of the payout — alleging it violates the state Constitution’s ban on gifts of public funds.

“Our members are really furious about it,” said David Green, a county social worker and president of SEIU 721, which represents over half of the more than 100,000 people who work for the county government. The union represents emergency room nurses and social workers, among many others.

Green and other county workers said they learned about the payout when LAist broke the news of it in October.

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Subscribe

During their latest union contract negotiations, according to Green, Davenport and her representatives frequently said there was no money for worker raises while she was “secretly negotiating a deal that put her own needs first.”

She “felt the need to line her own pockets,” Green added.

“I  was disappointed and disgusted.”

The contract negotiations lasted for two years and concluded last summer.

Davenport has not responded to requests for comment on the employees’ concerns.

Anthony Meraz is a deputy sheriff and vice president of the sheriff’s deputies’ union, which represents the second-largest number of county staff. Meraz said he and his colleagues were concerned by the $2 million payment, along with the secrecy around it and Davenport’s sudden leave of absence.

“That’s substantial money at a time where the county is claiming economic and financial distress,” Meraz said.

“ Leaders eat last,” he added, quoting a concept from military traditions. “The idea behind being in charge is that you are supposed to be taking care of people that are in your charge.”

The backstory

The county and SEIU ultimately reached a deal last summer where each employee gets a one-time $5,000 bonus in the first year, then a 2% cost of living raise and $2,000 bonus in the second year. Under the contract, employees get a 5% cost of living raise in the third year. Union officials called it a “strong” deal at the time, before the CEO payout was known.

If the $5,000 bonus ends up applying to all county staff when their negotiations conclude, it would amount to $440 million, according to the CEO’s office.

Negotiations with the sheriff deputies’ union remain ongoing, more than a year after they began. The deputies’ contract expired almost a year ago.

Together, the two unions represent about 63% of the county government’s workers. L.A. County is the largest employer in Southern California, according to its HR website.

The CEO’s office says departments had to make sacrifices to pay for the raises approved in the SEIU contract.

“In order to partially fund the cost of living increases, County departments had to make 5.5% cuts to their budgets, resulting in park closures, cuts to youth jobs programs and grants to arts organizations, and other reductions in service,” the office wrote.

“The County continues to seek new ways to maintain essential safety net services in the face of massive costs.”

The CEO office cited billions of dollars in expected costs to settle claims brought under a sexual assault survivor law, January 2025 wildfire expenses and a volatile federal funding landscape as threats to county funding.

Records show the CEO payout was in response to claims by Davenport that she was harmed by a voter-approved ballot measure that will create an elected county chief executive job at the county — which takes effect after her employment contract expires. Voters approved Measure G in 2024. Her payment demands said she suffered “reputational harm, embarrassment and physical, emotional and mental distress” caused by the ballot measure.

The $2 million payout deal was marked “confidential,” even though it’s required to be disclosed to the public upon request, under state law.

The deal was approved behind closed doors by the Board of Supervisors, with no report-out to the public of its existence. The approval did not follow the county’s usual transparency practice of publicly reporting out large settlements.

A public records expert and attorney, David Loy, told LAist the closed-door approval of the settlement, with no public announcement, did not appear to violate transparency laws. He said the county still should have informed the public.

County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath told LAist that she shares the workers’ frustrations.

“I hear the upset of members of our County workforce, and I share their frustration with a bureaucracy that too often lacks transparency and keeps important information from public view,” she said in a statement.

“That is why I put forward the motion to establish a clear, transparent process for executive settlements, and championed increased accountability on how our public dollars are spent through the budget process established by Measure G.”

In response to the backlash over the payment, last month county supervisors approved a proposal by Horvath to require that the county proactively tell the public about settlements with county executives and to look into creating a public website to describe the payouts.

Legality of payout is challenged

County workers are not the only ones pushing back on the payout.

An attorney has written letters to the county alleging the the CEO payout was illegal, both under state transparency laws and the state constitution’s ban on illegal gifts of public funds.

“The settlement constitutes a gratuitous payment for private benefit, prohibited by Article XVI, Section 6 of the California Constitution,” wrote the attorney, Alexander K. Robinson, representing county resident and taxpayer Ana Cristina Lee Escudero.

Under that constitutional provision, local government settlement payouts are illegal if they’re in response to allegations that completely lack legal merit, according to a court ruling describing how such cases have been decided.

The county spent $2 million “to extinguish a non-existent risk,” Robinson wrote.

An attorney contracted to represent the county, Mira Hashmall, disputed Robinson’s claims in letters replying to him.

“The constitutional prohibition on gifts of public funds bars only gratuitous expenditures for purely private purposes; it does not prohibit payments made to advance a legitimate public purpose or for adequate consideration,” Hashmall wrote.

Robinson told LAist this week that he plans to sue the county. He has not yet filed with the court.

CEO remains on months-long leave

Davenport suddenly went on medical leave three months ago, saying she planned to return as CEO in early 2026.

It’s unclear where those plans currently stand. She did not respond to calls and text messages. A spokesperson for the CEO’s office said no update was available, and that Davenport is expected to return “in 2026.”

In her absence, her second-in-command Joe Nicchitta — the county’s chief deputy CEO and chief operating officer — is serving as acting CEO while Davenport is out.

And the CEO’s manager of strategic initiatives, Jeramy Gray, has temporarily stepped into Nicchita’s job as the No. 2.