FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) — A former Fresno County employee is breaking her silence, revealing what she says led up to her surprise termination in September.
Jennifer Ortega pulls back the curtain, saying, “They took away my livelihood, my job, my opportunities, my future, and I can’t just let that slide by.”
Ortega is filing claims against the county of Fresno that assert an unlawful firing.
“She was terminated by the county less than 90 days after making a protected report of potential workplace violence,” said Ortega’s attorney, Laura Brown.
Ortega began working as a communications aide in Supervisor Garry Bredefeld’s office in February, but over the summer, she says, an incident with her supervisor, Daniel Gai, changed everything.
Ortega says on June 13th, Gai returned from lunch very upset, telling us he followed her into her office when she tried to remove herself from the situation.
Brown says he “got up really close to her, was raising his voice, shouting, wagging his finger in her face and saying words to the effect of ‘I got you this job, you should be grateful for this.'”
In 2019, while working at City Hall, Gai was convicted of more than 5 felonies related to a domestic violence incident.
Ortega says it didn’t concern her, focused more on her career than mistakes of someone else’s past, saying, “I wanted to take a job that I felt was worthy of my experience, and I felt like I was going to do a good job, and I could kind of give him grace that that was in his past.”
On September 20th, Ortega was fired, she says, without notice.
The decision came within her probationary period.
County policy says probationary rejections “must include a statement in writing of the reasons for the rejection.”
Ortega did not.
“We don’t normally comment on pending claims or litigation, but in this case, I know the County’s actions were completely justified and the many facts will demonstrate Ms. Ortega’s claim is baseless.”
Action News did reach out to Daniel Gai as well, but received no response.
The county has 45 days to respond to the claim.
If it’s rejected, Ortega can sue in court.
