A former victim’s advocate who was fired after sending a sexually inappropriate message about “panties” to his boss and colleagues claims the message was sent as a mistake and meant for a friend.
Jovan Thomas, a victim advocate in the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, sent a reply-all email to his boss, District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, asking, “what colour panties you have on” on January 26, according to court documents.
Thomas lost his job that day.
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Now, six months on, Thomas is suing his former employer for invasion of privacy, defamation and infliction of severe emotional distress.
Thomas said he was texting with a long-time friend whose father had just died and intended to “cheer him up” with a “jokey question”, according to the complaint.
His lawyers described the message as “a whimsical question that was part of plaintiff’s standard jocular repertoire with his friend”.
However, as he was about to send the message, Thomas received a calendar invite from his boss and “accidentally” emailed the message to Jenkins as a reply-all.
Upon realising his mistake, Thomas said he immediately sent a follow-up apology.
He said he was dismissed that day, but it was classified as a layoff rather than termination for cause.
“In the context of their long-time friendship, plaintiff’s flip question had no sexual, off-colour, obscene, misogynistic or sexist meaning or intent,” lawyers said.
“Rather, it was a goofy, non-sequitur by one long-time friend to another friend intended to try to divert and cheer him up while he was going through a difficult and upsetting experience.”
His lawyers claimed the message could only have been interpreted as a mistake, saying “absolutely no one who received plaintiff’s email could reasonably have believed that plaintiff had actually inquired of his boss, the District Attorney of San Francisco, what colour panties she was wearing, either seriously or as a joke”.
A spokesperson for Jenkins said in a statement, the office had fired Thomas and labelled his behaviour as “misogynistic”.
“The District Attorney’s Office is committed to maintaining a professional office environment where all staff members are treated with dignity and respect and not subject to harassment or a hostile work environment,” it said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Thomas’ complaint alleges after he was let go, Jenkins and other employees contacted the media and made “false, fraudulent, malicious and humiliating statements” about him and changed his dismissal to a termination for cause.
His lawyers claimed colleagues also tipped off the media that Thomas a history of workplace sexual harassment, referring to a previous complaint made against him.
In 2018, Thomas was sued by a woman, identified in court documents as Jane Doe, who accused him of taking advantage of her sexually in the aftermath of a robbery, according to the San Francisco Standard.
Thomas was later dropped as a defendant, and the county was found not liable for the alleged conduct.
Thomas is seeking compensation and a jury trial over his dismissal.