The supervisor testified Tuesday he never used any of the language in question, and filed his own competing lawsuit in 2019 to try to halt what he described as repeated false accusations. His lawsuit failed the same year and never went to trial.<\/p>\n
He testified Tuesday he felt mental anguish and embarrassment over the matter and tried to get transferred to another area, but his bosses at the city of Fresno did not allow him to move.<\/p>\n
Two former city employees testified Tuesday they\u2019d heard the supervisor speak about southwest Fresno residents in a racist manner, including calling them \u201cpigs\u201d and doing an impression of different groups of people of color.<\/p>\n
The conflict among employees came to a head when Smith informed Wilson in June 2018 of racist remarks he\u2019d heard the supervisor say, including calling her an \u201centitled (N-word)\u201d and \u201clazy,\u201d among other derogatory comments.<\/p>\n
The supervisor tried to justify his use of the N-word by saying he was ending the word with an \u201cA\u201d and not an \u201cER,\u201d according to the court filing. The supervisor denied saying the N-word.<\/p>\n
Wilson was reprimanded after using the F-word in a City Hall hallway after she learned about the alleged derogatory statements, according to the lawsuit. Labor representative Tony Silva testified the city escalated the reprimand too quickly, not following their own policies.<\/p>\n
Both Wilson and the supervisor were placed on administrative leave as the city conducted an investigation, according to testimony.<\/p>\n
Then-City Attorney Doug Sloan, who now works as Fresno County counsel, testified Tuesday he brought the two back to work before the investigation by a third party was complete.<\/p>\n
Sloan said he believed Wilson and the supervisor could avoid each other. Both of them continued to work for code enforcement on the same floor.<\/p>\n
Sloan said he did not read the completed third-party investigation, but discussed the results with another employee of the City Attorney\u2019s Office, which oversaw code enforcement. The report did not conclude the supervisor used the N-word.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t terminate somebody unless we know what happened,\u201d he said. \u201cThen he would have sued us. We have to take action based on the findings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s lawsuit argues her mistreatment by the city went beyond the incident with the supervisor.<\/p>\n
Wilson was also laid off with several other employees earlier in her career in 2013 as Fresno saw budget cuts, according to the lawsuit. All the other seven employees laid off, which included six white employees and one Hispanic employee, were rehired in subsequent years before she was, despite her time with the city, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n
The testimony was scheduled to continue on Wednesday and last about another two weeks.<\/p>\n
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 9:26 AM.<\/p>\n
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