San Diego County

County accused of retaliation after professor reported complaint against Nathan Fletcher

According to the claim, the county and Fletcher retaliated against a UCSD professor in April of 2023, after she reported a student's harassment claims against him

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Disgraced former County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher is facing more harassment allegations. And this time, he and the County of San Diego are accused of retaliation.

The complaint filed in court alleges the county and Nathan Fletcher — a county supervisor at the time — retaliated against UC San Diego professor Juli Hinds in April of 2023, after she reported a student's harassment claims against him.

Court documents detail how Hinds informed university administrators at UCSD’s Office of Student Disability Services that a student had reported “harassing conduct” from Fletcher. Fletcher was UCSD’s first professor of practice in political science in 2013. It’s when a retired or practicing professional teaches through expertise, without a traditional academic background or credentials. Before that, he had served two terms in the California Assembly. 

Hinds stated, in the following days, the county began to end county contracts she was working on. Complaint documents state that “the County of San Diego tortiously interfered with contractual and economic relationships of claimant Juli Beth Hinds, causing her economic damages.” It alleges she was terminated from county contracted projects with UCSD focused on the implementation of the county’s Regional Decarbonization Framework and preparation of the Regional Water Equity Report.

Hinds is listed in the complaint as a staff research associate and lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at UCSD and principal of Birchline Planning LLC. 

The county of San Diego is not providing comment at this time. 

NBC 7's Nicole Gomez reports on an amendment to a lawsuit against former Nathan Fletcher and MTS from a woman who alleges the former county supervisor sexually assaulted her.

The report was made just days after former MTS employee Grecia Figueroa filed suit alleging Fletcher groped and sexually harassed her while he served on the MTS board, and had a hand in her firing. He would later resign from the county supervisors and withdraw from his run for state senate.

As NBC7 has reported, a former intern of Fletcher's also accused him of improper behavior. Fletcher has denied the former intern and Grecia’s allegations.

But NBC7 has yet to hear from his attorney regarding the allegations from Hinds. NBC 7 reached out to UCSD and Hinds for comment and have not heard back. In a complaint footnote, it is clarified that Hinds is not alleging “any wrongdoing by UCSD or its employees in connection acts, omissions and damages, alleged herein.”

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