DEL MAR — Just two days after the 22nd District Agricultural Association board voted to fire Fairgrounds CEO Carlene Moore last week, a former seasonal employee filed a complaint against the organization, accusing Moore of age-based discrimination.
The complaint, filed by former employee Brad Oates on April 16, is the latest in a series of allegations against Moore that have been shared by former and current employees.
Oates filed the complaint in San Diego County Superior Court against the 22nd District Agricultural Association, a state-appointed body that oversees the Del Mar Fairgrounds. Moore, whose employment the 22nd DAA board agreed to terminate on April 15 after more than five years of leadership, is referenced several times in the lawsuit.
The 22nd DAA has since appointed Rebecca Bartling as the new CEO of the Fairgrounds through at least September 2027, while the board considers whether to conduct a nationwide search for a permanent CEO.
Alleged age discrimination
Oates said in his complaint that after working as a seasonal carpenter for the Del Mar Fairgrounds for around 10 years, he decided to apply for a permanent carpenter position at the Fairgrounds in early 2024.
He scored highly on a written competency test for the position and was interviewed by a panel that included his two supervisors, both of whom supported him receiving the role, the complaint said. Despite this, Moore reportedly refused to hire Oates for the position and told his supervisors that he was “too old,” according to the complaint. Oates was 66 at the time.
Oates said the Fairgrounds did not provide him with a reason why he was not chosen. However, Moore then hired her nephew for the permanent position and asked Oates to train him, the complaint continues.
By October 2024, Oates was removed entirely from his seasonal position, the complaint said. His salary for the seasonal role was around $40,000, and he would have earned $70,000 in the permanent role.
“Plaintiff lost not only his existing seasonal income but also the opportunity for a significant increase in compensation and year-round employment stability,” the complaint states.
Oates’ complaint also accuses the Fairgrounds of failing to provide 10-minute breaks and uninterrupted 30-minute meal breaks as required by state law. He said that during his seasonal role, he worked ten to twelve hours per day.
The Fairgrounds sent the following statement in response to a request for comment:
“The 22nd District Agricultural Association typically does not comment on legal matters. We are, however, proud to be an equal opportunity employer and remain committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants,” said Fairgrounds spokesperson Jennifer Hellman.
Other complaints
This is the second employee lawsuit filed against the Fairgrounds in the last year, alleging mistreatment by Moore.
In a September lawsuit, Fairgrounds executive Melinda Carmichael alleged that she faced retaliation from Moore after repeatedly raising concerns about alleged illegal conduct, racist remarks and other actions by former human resources director Leslie Schutz.
Carmichael alleged that after she and other employees communicated their concerns about Schutz to Moore, she was gradually stripped of her job responsibilities and resources and eventually demoted.
Carmichael went on disability leave due to reported extreme stress and anxiety from the situation with Moore and Schutz, but has since returned to the office.
At the Fairgrounds board meeting last week, one speaker also referenced a letter sent to the board in September 2025 by a group of former human resources employees, which shared myriad concerns about a hostile work environment under Moore.
The letter, obtained by The Coast News, was sent to the board shortly after Carmichael filed her lawsuit in early September. It is signed by former staff services manager Kim Minick, former associate governmental program analyst April Roque, and former senior personnel specialists Danielle Stephenson and Lucille Capunay, all of whom had tenures at the Fairgrounds spanning 20 to 25 years.
They stated that Moore began creating a toxic environment at the Fairgrounds after she was appointed as CEO, and that employees “faced hostility, intimidation, and retaliation, creating a culture of fear and mistrust.”
The employees said the situation worsened when Moore hired Schutz as human resources director. Their letter echoed many of the concerns raised in Carmichael’s lawsuit, including Moore’s failure to take appropriate action after multiple complaints were made about Schutz.
They said Moore hired Schutz despite her lack of relevant HR or leadership experience and allowed her to telecommute from Texas at the Fairgrounds’ expense. Schutz also failed to respond to leave requests within the required time frame, miscalculated leave time, and withheld benefit pay, the letter states.
“It is deeply troubling that a California state agency — entrusted with fairness, accountability, and integrity — allowed this culture of hostility to persist, directly violating CalHR policies and CDFA directives. The damage to the Human Resources department and the Fairgrounds workforce was not the result of isolated incidents, but a systemic failure of leadership under Moore,” the letter said.
Roque, Minick, Stephenson, and Capunay urged the Fairgrounds board to take action to remove Moore from leadership to prevent further harm to the Fairgrounds’ integrity, but said the board did not provide a meaningful response.
The Fairgrounds declined to comment on the letter. However, former Board Member Joyce Rowland stated at a board meeting earlier this month that the board had properly investigated the concerns shared in the letter.
In October, another employee sent a letter to the board alleging that his mental health had suffered greatly under Moore and other Fairgrounds leaders.
Brian Quigley, a security guard of two years, said Moore loudly reprimanded him in front of other managers despite no wrongdoing, and that she would repeatedly publicly chastise employees as a means of intimidation.
“Doing things to you in front of people, that’s her [Carlene’s] MO. She does that just to intimidate people,” he said.
He also said Moore and Schutz allowed the security department to remain severely understaffed and delayed filling open positions, resulting in insufficient security coverage. He said that, overall, he did not understand how Schutz remained in her role for as long as she did, as she appeared unprofessional and unqualified for the job.
“Carlene Moore’s management contributed to ongoing delays in the district’s hiring processes, creating a pattern of mismanagement that has directly impacted public safety. The security department is currently understaffed, with eight full time vacant positions that remain unfilled, in part due to [Schultz’s] documented failure to follow proper state hiring procedures. Despite being aware of these deficiencies and the resulting backlog, Ms. Moore did not take corrective action, allowing the understaffing to persist and compromising the department’s ability to maintain adequate public safety coverage,” Quigley said.
He also stated that he was also singled out and loudly reprimanded by his boss, Public Safety Director Mark Elvin, and was told to be “mean” to fellow security guards. He said this treatment increased the hostile work environment.
He requested workers’ compensation for emotional distress, which was denied. He also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Office alleging harassment by Moore and a hostile work environment and retaliatory conduct by both Moore and Elvin.
The district said in a letter to Quigley that an independent HR consulting firm investigated the claims but found them all to be unsubstantiated.
The Fairgrounds declined to comment on Quigley’s complaint.
In another now-settled 2022 lawsuit, Moore was also accused by carnival operator Talley Amusements of fraudulently changing applicants’ scores in a midway contract bid for the 2021 county fair in favor of another operator.
New CEO
The 22nd DAA board unanimously appointed Bartling as the district’s new CEO on April 24. She most recently served as the CEO of the Sonoma County Fairgrounds from 2015 until her retirement in 2024.
Bartling also served for around two decades at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. She was the box office manager from 1994 to 2005, and the Chief Operating Officer from 2006 to 2015.
During her tenure at the box office, she led several special projects, including establishing the paid parking department, implementing auto ticketing, creating a group sales department, and launching the annual Scream Zone Halloween event.
As COO, she managed budgets for numerous departments and led evacuation efforts during the 2003 and 2007 San Diego County Wildfires.
“I am honored to return to the Del Mar Fairgrounds and serve as CEO of this remarkable organization,” Bartling said. “This place has long been meaningful to me, and I look forward to working with the Board, staff, partners and community to support the Fairgrounds’ mission, strengthen its operations, and help ensure a successful future for the San Diego County Fair and all of the events and programs this campus makes possible.”
Bartling also served on the board of the California Fairs Alliance and was a founding member of the California Emergency Response Resiliency Venues and Fairgrounds, which focuses on the important roles fairgrounds play in responding to local emergencies.
