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A sign urging California Republicans to re-adopt the party\u2019s existing platform was placed over a directional marker at the state GOP convention at the Anaheim Marriott.<\/p>\n
Lindsey Holden<\/p>\n
lholden@sacbee.com<\/p>\n
The California Republican Party\u2019s one-time finance director<\/a> has accused several party officials of sexual harassment, gender-based discrimination, intentional infliction of distress, negligence and retaliation against a whistleblower, according to court documents.<\/p>\n The accusation comes two months after Tiffany Qualls\u2019 firing in June. Party officials said she violated a confidentiality agreement when she allegedly forwarded sensitive donor and fundraising information to her personal email addresses. The data does not include Social Security numbers, or card or account numbers. At the time of her hiring in February 2026, she was suing her previous employer, a Republican consulting firm in Nevada.<\/p>\n The California GOP said Qualls has resisted returning the data which led to the party filing suit in August. The party asked for a court order to force her to return or delete the data. That arbitration process is ongoing, which Qualls has asked a judge to pause while her counterclaim is considered. An emergency hearing is set for Tuesday, Oct. 8. Federal law allows employees to bypass arbitration if they can prove they experienced workplace sexual harassment or assault.<\/p>\n In a 33-page complaint filed in Sacramento County court, Qualls made several allegations against Chairwoman Corrin Rankin, Executive Director Scott Winn, spokesperson Matt Shupe along with other unnamed party officials.<\/p>\n Winn, Shupe and Rankin denied all the accusations in statements to The Sacramento Bee. And they accused her of disrespecting coworkers, shirking her job duties, and said the party received \u201cmultiple complaints\u201d about her workplace conduct and failure to meet job standards.<\/p>\n Until her firing, Qualls said she received positive feedback on her performance throughout her four-month tenure.<\/p>\n Qualls, who did not immediately respond to an email or text message requesting comment, is representing herself in court. She is seeking an unspecified amount in damages exceeding $35,000 for mental pain and anguish, emotional distress, loss of earning capacity and other special damages. She has asked for a jury trial and for restoration of back pay and future lost earning potential.<\/p>\n John-Paul Deol, an attorney for the GOP, said Qualls had not raised any of her accusations internally until after the party fired her and attempted to recoup the pilfered donor information. He said her counterclaim was a ploy to derail the arbitration process.<\/p>\n \u201cUnsubstantiated statements in a cross-complaint are not evidence. Filing claims does not excuse her refusal to return the party\u2019s files or justify her actions,\u201d Deol said.<\/p>\n \u2018Discounted, minimized or disregarded\u2019 expertise<\/p>\n In her complaint, Qualls said she began to runinto issues trying to access intraparty budget materials and rectify when donors complained of being overcharged. She said she only obtained them after repeatedly asking Winn, Rankin and finance chair Ron Nehring.<\/p>\n In another instance, Qualls said she viewed evidence that the party had burned through millions of dollars in a six-month period, going from $11 million in cash on hand in November 2025 to less than $600,000 in May 2026.<\/p>\n Qualls said Winn rebuffed her attempts to set up a plan of action, telling her \u201che didn\u2019t have time for this,\u201d and rejected her ideas for a joint fundraising agreement with Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton by asking \u201cif I gave you a budget, could you do it?\u201d Qualls said she took \u201cimmense\u201d offense to the remark.<\/p>\n She said Winn and Rankin ignored her attempts to collaborate on a plan to shore up the GOP\u2019s internal finances as the state party\u2019s fundraising relationships have frayed<\/a> with some of its county counterparts. Qualls said in court documents she was fired when she tried to discuss it with them and other party officials.<\/p>\n Qualls also said Winn often encouraged her to defer to a younger, male staffer for fundraising strategy and \u201cdiscounted, minimized, or disregarded Qualls\u2019 professional expertise while affording greater attention, credibility and access to male employees and affiliates.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHer filing presents a misleading account of her employment and falsely portrays legitimate management decisions as discrimination and retaliation,\u201d Winn said.<\/p>\n \u2018I just don\u2019t know why she dresses so slutty\u2019<\/p>\n Qualls said Rankin took issue when she asked clarifying questions and repeatedly used the word \u201cbitch\u201d to describe other GOP staffers and Assembly Republican Leader Alexandra Macedo, R-Tulare, in the office. Qualls in her countersuit said Rankin said Macedo \u201cdressed like a hooker\u201d for wearing boots and a skirt when the two observed the lawmaker walking to a legislative event.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat? I just don\u2019t know why she dresses so slutty. She\u2019s an attorney,\u201d Rankin reportedly said. Qualls said she objected to Rankin\u2019s remarks.<\/p>\n Rankin denied the account in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe woman described (in the complaint) is a caricature and the people who have worked beside me for years would not recognize it. I have never spoken about women, or about anyone, the way this filing claims I did,\u201d Rankin said. \u201cI set high standards. I hold people accountable. I do not lead by insult, and I will not let an unsubstantiated court filing rewrite who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n Qualls also said she witnessed Rankin on one occasion make \u201crude\u201d and \u201cdemeaning\u201d remarks to her executive assistant, Adrienne Coryell, while the two planned for Rankin to take a flight to Southern California in early June 2026.<\/p>\n Qualls said Rankin told Coryell, \u201cNo, that won\u2019t work. Don\u2019t you get it? I need you to understand,\u201d which she said \u201ccommunicated hostility and disrespect toward (Coryell) in the workplace.\u201d<\/p>\n Coryell also denied Qualls\u2019 claim and defended Rankin in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe allegations in this lawsuit do not reflect my experience of the California Republican Party, the inner workings of our office, or what it is like to work under our Chairwoman Corrin Rankin and COO Scott Winn,\u201d Coryell said. \u201cWhat I have experienced so far has been overwhelmingly positive, and I believe our positive office culture is an important part of what makes this team effective. This characterization of our workplace is simply not consistent with my experience working here.\u201d<\/p>\n Qualls said Shupe first pursued a \u201cplatonic personal relationship\u201d with her after she joined the GOP staff. They then had a meeting on May 9 on the shared terrace of the building where they both lived, during which Qualls said in filings the two acknowledged they were not in a romantic relationship despite Shupe \u201cacting as though they were dating\u201d \u2014 which he denied.<\/p>\n \u201cMs. Qualls\u2019 own filing describes our relationship as platonic. It was. Ms. Qualls is a serial litigant who has now sued two former employers,\u201d Shupe said in his statement. \u201cShe asked me to speak to her on the communal terrace, which I agreed to do, where I then rejected her desire to be more than friends.\u201d<\/p>\n Shupe said Qualls moved into his building after learning where he lived and showed up at his apartment uninvited with an empty wine glass which he called \u201codd\u201d and \u201cunnerving.\u201d Shupe also said she slipped a handwritten note under his door on May 10, the day after he rejected her attempts to pursue a romantic relationship with him.<\/p>\n Qualls said she sent him the note to remind him \u201cto maintain professional boundaries in their working relationship.\u201d In court documents, Qualls said after that, \u201cShupe became uncooperative on work matters\u201d and \u201ccreated communication barriers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe is a disgruntled former employee who was fired,\u201d Shupe said. \u201cI never pursued a romantic or sexual relationship with her. Her accusations against me are false. My attorney will ask the court to dismiss these claims.\u201d<\/p>\n Prior litigation<\/p>\n Qualls made similar accusations against her previous employer, McShane LLC, a Nevada Republican consulting firm. She claimed in an ongoing lawsuit filed last December that the executive there subjected her to racial discrimination as a Black woman and retaliated by firing her when she complained.<\/p>\n Sacramento Judge Christopher Krueger previously scheduled an Oct. 8 hearing for a motion to compel arbitration in the California GOP\u2019s case against Qualls and another hearing for a motion on a preliminary injunction is set for April 2027.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n![\"Corrin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/343P_20250316_LS_GOP.jpg\" "\\"343P_20250316_LS_GOP.jpg\\"")
Corrin Rankin puts her hand on her heart as she speaks at the Spring organizing convention in Sacramento after being voted the new California Republican Party chairwoman Sunday, March 16, 2025. LEZLIE STERLING lsterling@sacbee.com <\/p>\n
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