Michael Bisch Wins Lawsuit against Yolo Food Bank and Directors

• “The termination was so untimely and egregious, it is alleged, that other YFB employees resigned in protest and issued Letters of No Confidence to the YFB board.” – Sanjiv Singh, Bisch’s attorney

WOODLAND, CA – A Yolo County jury on Wednesday delivered a sweeping verdict in favor of former Yolo Food Bank Executive Director Michael Bisch, finding for him on all claims against all defendants after approximately 20 hours of deliberation, according to a press release issued by his legal team.

The jury ruled unanimously on liability for wrongful termination against public policy, whistleblower retaliation, breach of contract, and defamation. It also found Yolo Food Bank liable for punitive damages connected to wrongful termination, whistleblower retaliation and defamation, and found former Yolo Food Bank director Dan Ramos liable for punitive damages as well.

For the first phase of damages, the jury awarded $1,041,667 for wrongful termination, $1,051,667 for whistleblower retaliation, $666,667 for breach of contract and roughly $240,000 for defamation across all individual defendants and Yolo Food Bank. The punitive damages phase will continue later this month.

“This verdict vindicates Mr. Bisch’s four years of exemplary service to Yolo County’s most vulnerable residents,” said Sanjiv N. Singh, Bisch’s lead counsel. Singh said, “Mr. Bisch should be heralded as a champion of nonprofit accountability—he fought a long and hard battle to seek justice for retaliation and refused to capitulate when his Board gave in to improper pressure and conflicted interests.”

Co-counsel Michael B. Indrajana said, “It was a privilege to have worked by Michael Bisch’s side on this groundbreaking lawsuit.”

According to the press release, evidence during trial “showed a systematic campaign to discredit Bisch, including false allegations that were not true and not properly investigated.” Testimony from multiple former Yolo Food Bank employees described “the positive transformation of the organization under Mr. Bisch’s leadership.”

Singh added, “This verdict sends a clear message that nonprofit executives cannot be terminated for fulfilling their ethical obligations and protecting the interests of the community.”

The verdict is the latest development in a controversy that began in 2022, when Bisch was abruptly terminated as the organization’s executive director. At the time, many in the community were stunned when Yolo Food Bank announced his dismissal.

As previously reported by the Vanguard, Bisch took over the organization in January 2018 and “is widely recognized and credited for saving YFB from insolvency and achieving dramatic improvements in the operations, financial strength, and reputation of YFB.”

Bisch and his attorneys later filed suit alleging “alarming constitutional violations, defamation, and tortious interference by a group of Northern California governmental entities.” The complaint argued that the entities “acted in concert to discredit, silence, and ultimately cause the termination of a talented and accomplished food bank executive director, Plaintiff Michael Bisch.”

Among the allegations was a March 11, 2022 meeting involving multiple city managers, who reportedly met “to discuss Plaintiff Bisch’s public advocacy on the Food Assistance Mandates and whistleblower activities.”

The lawsuit alleged that three Yolo County Supervisors—Angel Barajas, Oscar Villegas and Don Saylor—“pressure(d) the YFB Board to terminate Plaintiff Bisch’s employment [which] ensued and ultimately proved successful on May 31, 2022.”

The complaint further alleged that local governments “directly threaten(ed) withholding funding unless YFB address the ‘Bisch’ problem—with a written letter directly implying that Bisch should be fired in order for YFB to get the awaited funding.”

The funds referenced were $1.2 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act allocations.

Bisch also filed a separate wrongful termination suit in 2023 against Yolo Food Bank and several current and former board members.

 At the time, Bisch said in an email to the Vanguard, “I believe I was fired by the Yolo Food Bank board for voicing my opinion to government representatives about SB 1383 noncompliance and filing formal complaints against the YFB board and against the County of Yolo and cities of Davis, Winters, West Sacramento and Woodland.”

In that complaint, Bisch alleged “that YFB and certain YFB board members, in response to Bisch simply performing his job—including advancing public policy by sharing subject matter expert opinions at hearings, meetings, in official reports, and in private to government officials—retaliated against Plaintiff Bisch in bad faith, ultimately terminating Plaintiff Bisch for no valid reason.”

His attorney Sanjiv Singh said then, “The termination was so untimely and egregious, it is alleged, that other YFB employees resigned in protest and issued Letters of No Confidence to the YFB board.”

Bisch maintained, “I was fired for doing what an executive director of a nonprofit is supposed to do. If we see misstatements of fact by public officials that jeopardize our mission or harm the vulnerable populations we serve, we have a duty to correct and challenge such misstatements. I lost my job for doing my duty.”

The case is Michael Bisch v. Yolo Food Bank, et al., Yolo County Superior Court Case No. CV2022-1431. The jury begins the punitive damages phase later this month.

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