SELMA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Selma’s mayor and fire chief are among a group of city officials being accused of harassing a former employee until she lost her job, a recent county filing revealed.
According to the July 10 suit, Mayor Scott Robertson and the city’s Fire Chief Jordan Webster targeted Ms. Mary Jane Venegas, who started working for the city as a Human Resources Manager in March 2023 before being promoted to Administrative Service Director in December 2023, for protecting a whistleblower and seeking compensation for her peers.
Despite moving up the city ladder rather quickly and demonstrating that she was an “exemplary, loyal, and devoted employee,” the suit claims that Venegas suffered a string of harassment before her “wrongful termination” in July 2025.
The incident reportedly began not long after Venegas raised concerns related to payroll errors.
Payroll errors
She first discovered the errors in 2023. While the exact nature of the errors was not disclosed, according to the suit, she immediately requested an investigation by an independent third-party auditor. That request was denied.
The following year, she found additional payroll issues. This time, the City Manager approved her request for a third-party audit.
She worked on a plan to ensure impacted employees were compensated appropriately and that any corrective action was taken.
However, according to court documents, “the City of Selma pressured her to reach an expedited resolution.” During this time, city officials, including Mayor Scott Robertson and the Fire Chief, allegedly began intimidating her and “interfering with the audit and investigative process by threatening her with job and attempting to bully her.”
The suit claims they used the fact that they were men and she was a woman to intimidate her.
“Had Ms. Venegas been a male, the City of Selma and its official representatives would not have attempted to intimidate Plaintiff or interfered with her work duties. It was because Ms. Venegas was a female that the City of Selma and its official representatives treated Ms. Venegas with such hostility and attempts to intimidate her,” the suit read.
According to the suit, two of Ms. Venegas’ staff members were forced to go on medical leave because of this “ongoing bullying and unprofessional behavior.”
Whistleblower complaint
As Administrative Service Director and a human resources employee, Ms. Venegas received employee complaints and concerns. In May 2025, she received one such complaint, from a whistleblower.
After reporting it directly to the City of Selma’s Risk Management Authority, the suit alleges “the City of Selma and Mayor Scott Robertson began demanding to know the identity of the whistleblower.” However, believing that she had a duty to protect the whistleblower from retaliation, she refused to disclose their identity.
Once again, the suit claims “the City of Selma and Mayor Scott Robertson began harassing Ms. Venegas.” It included threatening her with legal action and job loss, undermining her work and making it more difficult.
She reported the incident to her supervisor, Interim City Manager John Kunkel, on Aug. 1, 2025. The city allegedly responded by placing her on administrative leave pending investigation of her complaints.
She was eventually let go in or around September 2025, not long after she was informed that the defendants had chosen not to investigate her complaints.
YourCentralValley.com reached out to Mayor Scott Robertson and Fire Chief Jordan Webster for comment.
In a Wednesday email, Selma Deputy City Manager responded:
“At this time, the City has not been served with the lawsuit but are aware of it being filed. Based upon this being pending litigation, the City of Selma or any of those named in the suit have no comment and will deal with this through the court system.”