A former victims advocate, Jovan Thomas, 56, is suing San Francisco County for defamation following his dismissal over an email incident. Thomas was fired on January 26 after mistakenly sending an inappropriate email to the San Francisco District Attorney’s office, which later circulated widely on social media.
The email in question contained a query to District Attorney Brooke Jenkins asking, “What color panties you have on.” Screenshots of the email, which appeared to be a reply to an office-wide message from Jenkins, quickly spread, prompting Jenkins’ office to release a statement condemning the message as “misogynistic behavior” that violated the office’s code of conduct.
Thomas contends that the email was never meant for Jenkins or anyone in the office. According to his lawsuit, the message was intended for a fraternity friend who was grieving the loss of his father. The complaint states that Thomas often sent lighthearted, joking messages to this friend to cheer him up. “In the context of their long-time friendship, plaintiff’s flip question had no sexual, off-color, obscene, misogynistic or sexist meaning,” the complaint asserts.
The mix-up occurred when Thomas, who had just received a calendar invitation from Jenkins, accidentally hit “reply all” instead of sending a private text to his friend. This mistake resulted in the inappropriate message being sent to the entire district attorney’s staff.
Named as defendants in the complaint are Jenkins, the city and county of San Francisco, the district attorney’s office, and a spokesperson for the office. Thomas’ attorney argues that the staff could not reasonably have believed the email was a serious inquiry directed at Jenkins. “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 color panties she was wearing, either seriously or as a joke,” the complaint reads.
After the email was sent, Thomas immediately issued an office-wide apology, explaining the error. “While texting back and forth with my fraternity brother I sent a very inappropriate email,” he wrote in a message, a screenshot of which later surfaced on X (formerly Twitter). “I am sincerely sorry and would never do such a thing on purpose.”
Despite his apology, Thomas was informed by Richard Ng, the director of human resources for the District Attorney’s office, that he was being terminated. The lawsuit claims that the D.A.’s office contacted the media about the email and highlighted a prior sexual harassment complaint against Thomas. In 2018, Thomas had been sued by a woman who accused him of inappropriate conduct, though the case against him was ultimately dismissed.
Thomas’ attorney, R. Michael Lieberman, has labeled the sexual harassment suit as “meritless” and accused the D.A.’s office of misrepresenting the email incident in their public statements. According to the lawsuit, the office’s portrayal of the email as “misogynistic behavior” subjected Thomas to public ridicule and has made it impossible for him to find new employment.
The district attorney’s office declined to comment on the lawsuit, and a spokesperson for the San Francisco city attorney’s office stated that they would respond to the allegations in court.