OAKLAND - The former animal control and shelter manager at Oakland Animal Services (OAS) accused the city-owned facility of discrimination and a hostile work environment in a lawsuit filed Feb. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Plaintiff Denise Bongiovanni states in the suit that OAS has a long history of neglect in hiring, training and supervision, as well as sexist tendencies and abusive animal treatment.
Bongiovanni started at OAS as a volunteer in 2002, and was hired as the shelter's manager in 2017. As a member of the LGBT community and a woman, the plaintiff says she was subject to a long list of insubordination and discrimination by male animal control officers, many of whom were former Oakland police officers.
The officers' offenses outlined in the suit include: abuse to animals through physical violence; improper euthanasia and refusal to respond to animals in distress; ignoring and refusing discipline and training from females including the plaintiff; telling female animal control officers to "stay in the office" because the field was "too dangerous for girls"; and submitting false complaints of harassment from Bongiovanni as retaliation.
The plaintiff says that many complaints and requests for assistance were made to other Oakland departments and officials, all ignored.
Bongiovanni went on medical leave in November 2020 and was told by the defendant not to return.
Bongiovanni is represented by the Law Offices of Joseph L. Alioto and Angela Alioto.