SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Santa Barbara County has been sued in a lawsuit accusing two public health leaders of discrimination, harassment and retaliation against employees.
Three county employees recently filed a lawsuit against County Public Health Director Muhanad Hammami and Public Health Director Dr. Henning Ansorg, accusing the county of failing to properly investigate workplace safety complaints and further harassment. He claimed that the company had failed to protect its employees.
The lawsuit, filed by Paige Batson, Dr. Noemi Doohan and Shelley Robles-Davis, alleges that problems escalated after Hamami was hired as a director in January 2023.
The suit alleges that Hammami lied about having a medical license and ignored the concerns of female, non-white and non-heterosexual staff members.
Hammami earned a doctorate in Syria but is not licensed in California, according to the state’s medical board website. The suit alleges that Hamami received a bonus in the same way as someone with a medical license.
The complaint alleges that Dr. Ensorg made homophobic and racist comments to staff.
Dr. Ensorg revealed details of a lawsuit after he allegedly asked a gay colleague during the 2022 monkeypox outbreak, “Why do gay people have so much sex?”
Dr. Doohan claims that Dr. Ensorg made statements to the effect that the federal government is “prioritizing monkeypox vaccines for soldiers over fags.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the summer of 2022, Dr. Doohan claimed that Dr. Ensorg said the county should not prioritize COVID-19 treatment in northern Santa Barbara County.
Dr. Doohan said in the lawsuit that he understands the comments were driven by discrimination, since the northern part of the county is primarily Hispanic, rural, and lower income.
The complaint also alleges that Dr. Ensorg made inappropriate demands on nurses and directed Dr. Robles-Davis to administer vaccinations and estimate dosages without patients’ consent. .
Santa Barbara County investigated Dr. Ensorg’s actions in February 2023 based on the lawsuit, but took no corrective action based on the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs said the investigation was “illegal and had a predetermined outcome” because Mr. Hamami continued to say he expected Dr. Ensorg to return to work, even though the investigation was completed at the time. It should have been done,” he claims.
The plaintiffs are seeking financial damages and allege that they suffered anxiety and emotional distress.
Asked about the lawsuit, Santa Barbara County Public Information Officer Kesley Buttitta said, “The County of Santa Barbara does not discuss personnel matters and neither do our employees.”
A case management conference is scheduled for August.