California emergency services official sued for sexual harassment, retaliation

By SOPHIE AUSTIN
Associated Press/Report for America

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A lawsuit is accusing the deputy director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services of sexual harassment and retaliation against a senior employee while the agency did nothing to stop it. The suit, filed Tuesday, alleges that Kendra Bowyer faced a campaign of abuse by Ryan Buras beginning in 2020 that included crawling into bed with her while she slept during a gathering, then retaliating when she rebuffed his advances by cutting her off from the contact and resources to do her job helping disaster victims. She claims the Office of Emergency Services knew of previous harassment allegations against Buras by other employees but did nothing. Buras couldn’t be reached for comment. Cal OES says the allegations were investigated and no policy violations were found.