Q Voice News investigation: Ellie Perez at Long Beach LGBTQ Center is a bully, sources say

This article is the first of two parts of an 11-month investigation by Q Voice News of Ellie Perez and the culture at the Long Beach LGBTQ Center.

Andie Darling loved his job at the Long Beach LGBTQ Center.

“I cried when I got the job. I thought it was a bright start to my career. I was doing work that I wanted to do with my community,” said Darling, 27, who identifies as gay and gender queer.

In 2022, Darling began his job as the Center’s coordinator of operations and outreach, helping connect people in the community with the organization’s various health, legal, and social services. Then, after approximately 15 months, his dream job had turned into a nightmare, he said.

“Ellie was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” Darling said. “Ellie did a good job of crushing my hope that the Center would be a good place.”

Ellie is Ellie Perez, the interim executive director who was appointed by the four-member board of directors in July 2023.

At first, Perez seemed like a breath of fresh air. Darling had personnel issues and conflicts with other people at Center before Perez arrived, he said. Q Voice News contacted several officials who worked at the Center at that time, but none of them corroborated those allegations.

But after Perez arrived, the situation soured very quickly, Darling said.

“When Ellie first came in, she made it seem like she was on everyone’s side and that she wanted to hear everyone,” Darling said. “But very quickly, within a month, it turned rotten.”

Perez was very aggressive and immediately blame him for things without giving a benefit of the doubt or asking questions, Darling said 

“Ellie was toxic. She was volatile and unpredictable,” Darling said. “You didn’t know what her reaction would be.

“It was very uncomfortable,” Darling said. “That’s not the kind of work environment you want when you’re trying to do the work at the Center.”

Darling resigned from the Center in August, one month after Perez started.

Ellie Perez accused of being a bully, hostile behavior

Darling’s story is not an isolated incident.

Q Voice News obtained a complaint filed against Perez, who is a candidate for the Center’s executive director job, that was sent to the board of directors in March.

The complaint says, in part, “I was subjected to a sustained and unprovoked, two-hour episode of yelling, verbal abuse, and intimidation. I found myself visibly shaken, even shedding tears at times, while Ellie persisted in berating and demeaning me.”

“I implore the Board to take prompt and decisive action in response to this incident,” the complaint said. “It is imperative that a zero-tolerance policy be upheld towards harassment and bullying in our workplace.”

It’s unclear if the board took any actions related to the complaint, which also was sent to Insperity, the Center’s human resources department.

In a statement, Insperity’s Andrea Bradford said, “due to confidentiality considerations, Insperity does not identify whether a company is its client, therefore we are declining to comment.”

When confronted at the Center about the allegations, Perez refused to discuss the topic.

“I will not answer any of your questions,” Perez said and walked away.

Board Vice President Christopher Covington, reached on his cell phone, said, “I can’t talk about any Center board business. No comment.” 

Reached on his cell phone, board President Eduardo Lara didn’t respond to any questions; he referred all inquiries to the Center’s spokesperson, Cory Allen.

Allen told Q Voice News, “Anything personnel related we can’t talk about. It’s handled by HR (human resources).”

Protecting employees from toxic boss

Rick Jorgensen, an employment law attorney in Orange County, said, “Shining a spotlight on misconduct is the way you deal with it. When you deal in secret, it makes it worse and allows a hostile work environment to fester.”

The Center must take these allegations seriously and thoroughly investigate them that yield a fact-finding report, he said.

“Every organization has an obligation under California and federal law to provide a work environment free from harassment, hostility, discrimination, and retaliation,” Jorgensen said.

The employer needs to take reasonable actions to protect employees while they investigate the allegations against her, he said.

Separating Perez from employees, meaning they would have no contact or interaction with her, is an option, Jorgensen said.

“Nothing will change until the employers are held accountable and there is some level of consequence,” Jorgensen said.

Numerous allegations of hostility

Q Voice News spoke with 10 people affiliated with the Center who shared similar stories of Perez’s alleged bullying behavior.

Another person alleged that Perez sexually harassed them.

Many of the people interviewed for this article asked to remain anonymous because they feared retaliation for being a whistleblower.

If Perez is hired for the executive director position, her conduct will threaten the stability of the 44-year-old non-profit organization and endanger workers’ health and well-being, they said.

They described numerous occasions of Perez screaming, yelling, and berating staff and employees, sometimes in front of other people.

• “I noticed the aggression in Ellie during her first week on the job,” one person said. “Ellie does the cycle of violence — She verbally attacks you, and then thanks you for all you do. “It’s not safe for the employees.”
• “It’s the worst thing for the Center. Ellie has no experience, and she has created such a toxic and hostile environment for employees,” another person said. “It’s like work PTSD.”
• “People are on pins and needles. There’s a high level of uncertainty if your job is safe,” another person said. “Ellie manipulates and treats people that way, keeping them in the dark on purpose to make them uncomfortable. That’s extremely unprofessional and can be very traumatic. Ellie creates that trauma.”
• “Ellie screams at people. She screamed at me for anything. It was nonstop,” another person said. “Every time I saw Ellie in the hallway, I expected her to verbally attack me.”
• “I am afraid to come into work. Ellie’s like a hand grenade,” another person said. “She yelled at me nonstop. It was traumatizing. It was an abusive interaction.”

Q Voice News looked at text messages these individuals sent to other people about the incidents as a way to help corroborate the allegations.

11-month investigation

Q Voice News spent 11 months investigating the allegations against Perez. Q Voice News was told that at least four complaints, two of them anonymous, were filed with the board and human resources about Perez’s alleged hostile and toxic behavior.

Many people who spoke with Q Voice News felt the complaint process was stacked in Perez’s favor. For example, they followed Center guidelines to submit complaints, but their pleas for help have been ignored because nobody has outreached to conduct an investigation, they said.

The process has been complicated, according to the sources, because  no clear guidelines exist for submitting complaints and training hasn’t been given that provides definitions and examples of workplace bullying and how to address it.

Allen, the Center spokesperson, said, “The Center follows proper protocols. That’s not what happened at the Center.”

Employees should never be confused about how to file a complaint and what to expect once it is filed, Jorgensen said.

“This type of confusion, including when there is no response to a complaint, discourages people from filing complaints. That lack of response also creates a hostile work environment because the person you complained about has their job and will treat you worse,” he said.

“Employees should know what happens at every step and get updates on the investigation,” Jorgensen said.

Nepotism allegations

Another concern voiced by people who were interviewed is potential nepotism. During staff meetings, Perez gloated that her personal connection to Lara, the board president, would shield her from any investigations, the anonymous sources said.

They said Perez boasted that Lara “is my best friend, and he has my back. All complaints will be dismissed.” 

Many of these allegations against Perez are similar to ones raised in late April by former board Vice President Sarah Gail Armstrong, who emailed an open letter to the seven-member board as well as Mayor Rex Richardson and Vice Mayor Cindy Allen, asking them to conduct an investigation on Perez and Lara, who is a member of the city’s Health and Equity Commission. Armstrong resigned from the Center board in March.

After Q Voice News published an article about the letter, three supporters of Perez were critical of the story on social media.

Q Voice News reached out to all three people, inviting them to share the experiences they had with Perez. Two of them didn’t respond, and the third didn’t agree to an interview.

Allegations of nepotism are problematic, Jorgensen said.

“In any employment situation, you should have multiple layers making sure you have a safe working environment. When there are no checks and balances in place, you’re going to have problems,” he said.

“If you are prone to be abusive, you are a bully, and you are friends with your boss, you are in your comfort zone. You feel like you are untouchable and protected, and you are more likely to act out. It’s ripe for growing racism, sexism, all the isms, and a hostile work environment,” Jorgensen said.

Concerned about commission role

Apart from being troubled about Perez’s current and possible future role at the Center, the people Q Voice News spoke with are concerned about Perez’s role on Los Angeles County’s new LGBTQ+ commission. They said that Perez should resign or be removed from the commission.

County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who appointed Perez in December to the commission, said she will look into the allegations against Perez and decide if Perez should resign or be removed from commission.

“I want to make sure that there is a thorough investigation. I will look into that,” Hahn said.

“While that’s intolerable at any workplace, it seems particularly egregious at that workplace that there would be hostility, and people would be made to feel uncomfortable in their work,” she said.

“If an investigation shows that those complaints are accurate,” Hahn said, “we will take corrective action.”