YUBA COUNTY, CA (MPG) - Seth Fuhrer, Yuba County’s Third District Supervisor, has been banned from attending conferences conducted by the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) and the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) because of alleged "lewd, sexually suggestive, and inappropriate comments," according to a document filed in Yuba County Superior Court.

Fuhrer was elected to a Yuba County supervisor position in 2020 and won re-election this past March. He currently sits as vice-chair and has described the allegations against him as a means of preventing him from becoming board chair in January.

“Normally the Board Chair rotates,” said Fuhrer in an online response to the Investigation Assessment Report.

“Since I won my election in March, I would rotate to Chair in a few weeks. Being Board Chair lets you rein in the CAO and put items he doesn’t necessarily want to deal with on the Agenda. So, you will notice that banning me from being Chair is his recommendation for discipline. The hurry for all of this is, he needs it to be done before January to prevent me from being Chair. Which is why after sitting on it for five months, they are pushing it through now.”

Almost five months ago, in August, the California State Association of Counties and Rural County Representatives of California sent a joint letter in an attempt to ban Fuhrer from conferences and events through 2026. The letter accused him of “lewd, sexually suggestive, and inappropriate comments” at conferences in November 2023 and July. The county later upheld the allegations in the letter which claimed Fuhrer had jokingly threatened another conference attendee by pretending to push them overboard off a boat.

“In this case, I and another supervisor and our wives were at a social event,” said Fuhrer in an online statement. “On the boat ride, I kiddingly suggested pushing the other supervisor off our nearly stationary tiki boat, into calm warm water in daylight. He took the words as a joke. In no way can this rise to the level of workplace violence. Again, the people with the agenda hoping to sling enough mud, that people assume there must be some substance, but it’s all smoke and no fire.”

On Dec. 4, Fuhrer filed a suit in Yuba County Superior Court seeking a court order to stop county officials from publicly releasing the results of an investigation into allegations of his alleged inappropriate workplace behavior.

Judge Stephen Berrier of Yuba County Superior Court denied Fuhrer's request. Fuhrer’s social media post said that the third-party Investigation Assessment Report was prepared by Boucher Law. Some of the listed complaints included pulling an employee’s ponytail, touching a co-worker on the nose, poking another’s stomach and a few sexually suggestive or questionable comments. Fuhrer argues that these incidents were all taken out of context and that intent matters. Others he describes as having no memory of the incidents or that they occurred outside of work.

“Harassment has to be severe or continuously recurring creating factors of adverse hardship in the work environment re-victimizing the person over and over again,” said Fuhrer in his posting. “I have always attempted to resolve any issues with others. Publishing the investigative report and making a public spectacle is harassment and abuse of power. The goal is to stop me from being Chair and to defame me in the eyes of my constituents.”

A special meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Dec.19 after press time, at which Yuba County supervisors will consider taking action against Fuhrer. Possible actions could include censorship and blocking Fuhrer from holding leadership positions on the board through 2025.

A special meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Dec.19, in which Yuba supervisors will consider taking action against Fuhrer. Possible actions could include censorship and blocking Fuhrer from holding leadership positions on the board through 2025.

"Yuba County is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for all employees. That is why the Yuba County Board of Supervisors adopted the Policy and Complaint Procedure against Harassment, Discrimination and Retaliation and the Workplace Violence Prevention Policy,” said County Administrator Kevin Mallen in a statement issued last week. “These policies require actions when a complaint is received alleging conduct that could violate a policy. In regard to the allegations received concerning Supervisor Fuhrer, those allegations resulted in the County retaining an outside independent investigator to investigate allegations of inappropriate behavior. As outlined in the Investigation Assessment Report attached to the December 19th Board of Supervisors meeting agenda, the outside independent investigator sustained using a preponderance of evidence standard all of the allegations. Due to the allegations being sustained, staff is obligated under the Board of Supervisors adopted policies to present to the appointing authority recommended remedial actions against the offender. Due to Supervisor Fuhrer being an elected employee, staff is presenting the recommended remedial actions to the Board of Supervisors. It is solely up to the Board of Supervisors to determine what remedial actions are appropriate based on the investigation and their consideration of this matter will be at their December 19th meeting."