On Sept. 15 the City Council approved a $269,000 settlement with Khouri<\/a> which terse council documents available at the time said was to resolve claims of \u201cwrongful conduct\u201d surrounding her termination.<\/p>\n That was less than the $1 million Conger said Khouri would accept \u2014 representing two years\u2019 pay \u2014 to not pursue her claims.<\/p>\n Despite the payout, the mayor\u2019s office said in a statement Friday that the events described in Conger\u2019s letter \u2014 known as a pre-litigation settlement demand \u2014 are unsubstantiated, and in one detail incorrect.\u00a0<\/p>\n Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Serrano said the employee was not demoted, but applied to a different position. He declined to say what that position was.<\/p>\n Avila and Gloria were not made available for an interview. Avila said in a statement \u201cI am disheartened that these unsubstantiated allegations are resulting in this invasion of my personal privacy, but at no relevant time was I romantically involved with the person referenced.\u201d<\/p>\n The claims from Khouri span 2023 though the end of 2025. Asked to define what the relevant time was, Serrano replied that \u201cThere was no wrongdoing any time whether during the period covered by the allegations or otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n Gloria issued a statement that again noted the claims were not substantiated.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThese allegations were fully investigated, and not substantiated,\u201d the statement said. \u201cI continue to have full confidence in Paola Avila as my Chief of Staff and her ability to ethically, dutifully, and professionally serve the City of San Diego.\u201d<\/p>\n Nearly all claims submitted to the city before litigation starts have not gone through the process of discovery, depositions and evidence accumulation.<\/p>\n The claim says that in September 2023 Khouri got a report that one of her subordinates was the subject of a hostile work environment claim from a co-worker.\u00a0<\/p>\n That worker, whose name was redacted, said the hostility had gone on for more than a year, and was so bad they suffered from nausea, anxiety and had begun seeing a therapist.\u00a0<\/p>\n Khouri and Human Resources Director Julie Rasco launched an investigation. The claim says they interviewed several witnesses who gave \u201cvery similar\u201d information that substantiated the hostile work environment allegation.<\/p>\n Among the evidence assembled was a recording of the \u201coffensive conduct\u201d by the subject of the probe, the claim said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Khouri and Rasco concluded that conduct merited getting fired, but instead recommended a demotion sometime around May 2024, the claim letter said.<\/p>\n At that point, Avila got involved. She tried to stop the demotion, and contacted the woman employee and encouraged her to fight the discipline, according to the claim.<\/p>\n \u201cInvolvement of the Mayor\u2019s Chief of Staff in a routine personnel matter is highly unusual,\u201d wrote Conger, who has represented numerous city employees in employment claims against the city.<\/p>\n Nonetheless the woman was demoted in May 2024, Conger wrote. The claim then says that she got another job in March 2025 with an outside company whose name is redacted.\u00a0<\/p>\n In a heavily redacted portion, the claim alleged the former employee used her contacts and relationships in City Hall to \u201cgain advantages\u201d for her new employer.\u00a0<\/p>\n By the end of summer 2025, the claim contends numerous city employees complained she was \u201ccurrying undue favor and advantage\u201d for her employer to the \u201cdetriment\u201d of the city. It is illegal for former city officials to lobby city employees within a year after they leave the city payroll.<\/p>\n Khouri forwarded these complaints to both the City Attorney and the Ethics Commission. (Ethics Commission Executive Director Bryn Kirvin said the commission does not comment on the existence or non-existence of any investigation.)<\/p>\n Around the same time, Avila and the former employee announced in July 2025 that they were romantically involved, the claim says.\u00a0<\/p>\n In September 2025, Khouri briefed Gloria on the situation. Then on Nov. 12 the claim said Khouri was summoned to Gloria\u2019s office and told she was being terminated.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Khouri asked why she was losing her job, Avila \u2014 who was in the meeting \u2014 interjected comments like \u201cyou just need to go,\u201d \u201cyou can\u2019t ask questions of the mayor\u201d and \u201cenough of your questions you just have to pack up and leave now.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/paola-avila-v2.jpeg\")
Paola Avila, chief of staff to Mayor Todd Gloria. (City of San Diego)<\/p>\n
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