By Emma Phillips
MARTINEZ – Contra Costa County Assessor Gus Kramer—running for county supervisor—has been accused of making sexist, racist and ageist comments to employees from 2013 to 2018, and stood trial on civil misconduct charges this week in Dept. 22 of Contra Costa County Superior Court.
An accusation filed in June 2019 by the Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury urged Kramer’s removal from office for creating a hostile work environment.
Two key witnesses took the stand Thursday and described to Judge John Cope the anxiety and discomfort they felt after Kramer’s remarks.
The first witness, a female, took the stand to describe the sexual remarks Kramer made toward her and other female coworkers that caused her to file a formal complaint in June of 2019. She claimed the first instance took place in February of 2019, with the most notable occurring in June of that year when Kramer said he liked her breasts and stared directly at them for an uncomfortable amount of time.
She recounted that Kramer also sexualized her female coworker who worked in a cubicle in her vicinity. The defendant allegedly told his employee her blouse was “so provocative” that he should turn her in it for it. The coworker laughed off this comment and continued the conversation.
Defense Attorney Michael Rains discounted the witness’s testimony in his cross-examination, claiming that his client could very well have been staring at the witness’s blouse, admiring her sense of 
fashion.
And, in at attempt to undermine her credibility as a witness, he also questioned why the witness did not talk to her coworker when she heard her go through the same sexualized remarks that she did.
The female witness repeatedly explained how she did not feel safe confronting Kramer or filing a complaint for fear of retaliation or termination. After hearing the encounter with Kramer and her coworker, she decided to file a formal complaint because “if people don’t say anything, it doesn’t stop.”
The witness described how she was inspired by other women coming forward about this same topic in the recent past, and how she is testifying now because she no longer works at the same place of employment as Kramer and “people have to come forward.”
The male witness testifying retired as a principal appraiser at Contra Costa County in 2018. However, he was assistant county assessor for the previous 10 years before his abrupt demotion by Kramer in August 2018.
He described how Kramer came into his office multiple times after an incriminating article was published regarding Kramer’s alleged misconduct, always asking the question, “What do you know that you aren’t telling me?” The witness said he had no idea what Kramer was talking about.
While this encounter was confusing to the witness, there were two other times Kramer offended the witness with racist remarks. He described how Kramer referred to Diane Feinstein’s replacement, Kevin De Leon, saying “white male voters will never f***ing vote for a Mexican.”
Another alarming incident occurred when Kramer walked into the witness’s office and exclaimed “so you’re a f***ing beaner?” which shocked the witness because he is of Mexican descent.
The witness further explained how he felt there was age discrimination at play, with one 2018 interaction.
He said that after the third time Kramer asked him “what do you know that you’re not telling me” during about the third week of August, he said that his last day of work would be August 29. He also stated that the witness could go to the retirement board because he was probably old enough, which the witness interpreted as age discrimination.
This put the witness in distress; he said he stopped sleeping, his blood pressure shot up, and he lost 13 pounds in four days because of Kramer’s actions.
When the 29th day of the month came around, Kramer gave the witness an envelope with a statement inside that essentially demoted him, but he was not terminated. Because of his physical ailments, the witness’s doctor put him on leave until his retirement in late November 2018.
Rains highlighted the witness’s interview regarding the complaint he filed with the county multiple times throughout his cross-examination. He told the court that the witness never mentioned any of the racist remarks in this interview transcript, trying to discount his credibility.
The witness adamantly responded that the investigation was solely devoted to age discrimination, and he did not feel it was necessary to bring these comments into the conversation.
The witness ended his testimony by describing how he has been trying to forget about his encounters with Kramer for the past two years, and he seemed frustrated that he had to “go through all of this” again. He described his retirement by saying “there was no way I was going to go back to that toxic environment.”
Both witnesses were made incredibly uncomfortable by Kramer’s statements, whether they be racist, ageist, or sexual in nature.
Court proceedings are continuing.
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