{"id":247982,"date":"2026-04-02T05:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/247982\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T05:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T05:27:10","slug":"sheng-thaos-former-aide-sues-oakland-claims-she-was-fired-for-blowing-the-whistle-on-interim-mayor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/247982\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheng Thao’s former aide sues Oakland, claims she was fired for blowing the whistle on interim mayor"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former chief of staff to Sheng Thao, the former Oakland mayor who was recalled and then federally indicted, has filed a lawsuit against the city, alleging she was wrongfully fired by interim Mayor Kevin Jenkins after repeatedly raising alarms about ethical violations in his administration.<\/p>\n

Leigh Hanson, who served as chief of staff through Thao’s tumultuous tenure and stayed on through most of Jenkins term as interim mayor, filed the 22-page complaint in Alameda County Superior Court on March 20.<\/p>\n

Jenkins fired Hanson<\/a> in April 2025 after backlash on social media over a portion of a handwritten note she’d taken during a 2024 campaign meeting with Thao and others that appeared to refer to Black people as “tokens.”<\/a> Hanson said that the note was taken out of context, and that those in the meeting were discussing how backers of Thao’s recall were tokenizing Black supporters.<\/p>\n

Hanson’s lawsuit alleges that the firing wasn’t about the note\u00a0–\u00a0but rather in retaliation for reporting Jenkins’ alleged flouting of city rules. Hanson claims that Jenkins improperly accepted gifts from lobbyists, hired new staff despite a hiring freeze and violated the city’s travel policy.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Jenkins refuted the lawsuit’s claims.<\/p>\n

“It is disappointing to see former employees attempt to weaponize fabricated narratives in an effort to squeeze funds from a city already working to recover from significant budget constraints,” Jenkins said in a statement. “Black leadership will not be used as a token or scapegoat to extract money from the people of Oakland.”<\/p>\n

A city of Oakland spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, trouble began on Jan. 6, 2025, the day Jenkins was sworn in as interim mayor and took the place of Thao, who voters recalled<\/a> in November 2024.<\/p>\n

After the ceremony, Jenkins was allegedly accompanied back to his private office by Nema Link, a land development director for billboard company Becker Boards, and lobbyist Isaac Kos-Read. Hanson claims in the lawsuit that Kos-Read and Link were selecting offices inside the mayor’s suite, with plans to work from City Hall.<\/p>\n

Hanson messaged Jenkins on the encrypted app Signal to warn him that allowing lobbyists to operate within City Hall violated confidentiality and election law, according to the lawsuit. She also called City Attorney Ryan Richardson, who she says advised her to use “a gentle touch” with Jenkins. Richardson had been sworn into office the same day.<\/p>\n

Neither Link nor Kos-Read immediately responded to a request for comment, but they have previously denied that they were ever offered office space at City Hall.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Jenkins later set up a meeting between Hanson and Link to discuss her concerns in the mayor’s suite, and Link arrived with gifts of wine and premium olive oil for Jenkins, who was allegedly present.<\/p>\n

According to the suit, Hanson objected, warning Jenkins the gifts could trigger an investigation by the city’s ethics commission. She says in the lawsuit she again phoned Richardson, who told her to report anything she saw.<\/p>\n

Link previously told the East Bay Times<\/a> that the gift was intended for Hanson, not Jenkins.<\/p>\n

\"Oakland<\/p>\n

Oakland City Council President Kevin Jenkins speaks during Mayor Barbara Lee’s inauguration in Jack London Square in Oakland, Calif., on Sunday, June 8, 2025. (Scott Strazzante\/S.F. Chronicle)<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that a week later, Jenkins insisted that Link attend a meeting between city leaders and the Oakland Acquisition Company regarding the sale of the Oakland Coliseum, despite Hanson’s concerns that it was unethical for a lobbyist to attend closed-door negotiations.<\/p>\n

Jenkins later hired two new senior staff members with no written job descriptions, despite a citywide hiring freeze, the lawsuit claims. He also allegedly requested that Hanson approve $15,000 of travel expenses for trips to Long Beach and Washington, D.C.\u00a0– even though there was an ongoing travel freeze.<\/p>\n

Jenkins, who served through May 2025, fired Hanson on April 6. The termination came a day after the news about Hanson’s “token” note became public. That day, she had requested medical leave due, citing stress from a post by political activist and recall supporter Seneca Scott, who she claimed threatened to come to her neighborhood.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleges that Hanson’s firing was also in retaliation for her request for time off due to workplace stress.<\/p>\n

Hanson is seeking lost income and benefits, as well as damages for emotional distress associated with her public firing.<\/p>\n

As of 2023, Hanson was paid a base salary of $196,000 a year, according to Transparent California.<\/p>\n

This article originally published at Sheng Thao’s former aide sues Oakland, claims she was fired for blowing the whistle on interim mayor<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The former chief of staff to Sheng Thao, the former Oakland mayor who was recalled and then federally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":247983,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[4752,8550,64225,143,145,144,20674,4312],"class_list":{"0":"post-247982","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-city-hall","9":"tag-kevin-jenkins","10":"tag-leigh-hanson","11":"tag-oakland","12":"tag-oakland-headlines","13":"tag-oakland-news","14":"tag-ryan-richardson","15":"tag-sheng-thao"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}