Nearly two dozen elected officials and Democratic Party operatives are calling for the firing of a part-time lecturer at Cal State Long Beach over previous allegations of sexual misconduct during the lecturer’s time as an Orange County labor organizer.
Nineteen people signed onto a letter dated Wednesday saying that Julio Perez, the former executive director of the Orange County Labor Federation, should be terminated. They include seven current Orange County council members and mayors and the chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County.
Perez, who was removed from his position with the labor federation in 2018, was accused “by multiple women” of making inappropriate comments and inappropriate sexual activity in the workplace, along with retaliation, the federation said in a press release at the time. The federation hired an independent attorney to conduct an investigation after allegations were posted to Facebook, and the attorney found that the accusations were credible, according to the statement.
Perez was never charged with any crime.
The letter says that Perez has no place in the classroom or on the campus.
“Is Perez really the sort of individual CSULB wants to employ?” The letter said. “It is surprising and unfortunate that he would ever be in consideration—let alone make it past a background check.”
Perez did not respond to a request for comment about the letter calling for his firing. Rigoberto Rodriguez, chairman of the Chicano and Latino Studies Department that employs Perez, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
On Wednesday a university spokesperson confirmed that Perez had been contracted to teach one online class, Chicano/Latino Politics in the United States.
“All applicants are subject to criminal background checks that seek to identify past convictions,” said Jeff Cook, a spokesperson for the university.
Cook added that the university is aware of the letter and it is under review.
Ada Briceno, chair of the Democratic Party of Orange County, said that Perez’s employment at CSULB was brought to her attention by victims who had discovered he was teaching at the university. The pushback that was experienced while bringing the original allegations into the public was tough for everyone involved, Briceno said, adding that “we have not forgotten.”
“We need them [CSULB] to respond immediately,” Briceno said. “It’s very troublesome.”
Kim Bernice-Nguyen, mayor pro tem of Garden Grove, who signed on to the letter, said that she was personally disappointed that someone like Perez would be allowed on campus where kids are trying to learn and he could again be in a position of power that he could potentially abuse.
She added that he should be employed, but it shouldn’t be at a school.
Perez had also previously had his employment challenged by Long Beach political activists who denounced his hiring as a political consultant for a Long Beach City Council campaign in 2020.
Staff writer Anthony Pignataro contributed to this report.