After NAACP accuses South Bay homeless shelter operator of discrimination, officials weigh contract extension

In recent months, the South Bay chapter of the NAACP and other community advocates have publicly accused one of the region’s largest homeless service providers of discriminating against five Black employees whom it fired and Black residents of homeless shelters.

Now, local officials are weighing whether to renew Milpitas-based HomeFirst’s multimillion-dollar contract to run the large county-owned shelter in Sunnyvale where advocates allege the discrimination took place. HomeFirst, which owns or manages about a dozen shelters across the county, has repeatedly and forcefully denied the accusations.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors has asked county staff to review and respond to the allegations before a board vote next month.

“I will be asking a lot of in-depth questions about what it’s going to take to deliver on the needs of our unhoused residents with fair, just, and humane treatment and engagement,” Supervisor Otto Lee, whose district includes the Sunnyvale shelter, said in a statement.

The allegations against HomeFirst were brought to light by advocates, like Silicon Valley De-Bug and the Santa Clara County Wage Theft Coalition, and former employees in letters to officials, county public meetings and local news reports.

The nonprofit contends the claims have been pushed by “a few misinformed and ill-advised voices,” including homeless advocates aiming to discredit its effort to help many of the county’s estimated 10,000 unhoused residents. HomeFirst officials have said they stand by firing the five ex-employees while declining to offer a detailed explanation.

County staff said no residents or employees have filed discrimination complaints with the county.

The nonprofit has been found liable for other employment claims, however. In 2019, the state labor commissioner fined HomeFirst more than $17,700 for wage theft violations, according to court records. It’s now facing a class-action lawsuit over separate compensation claims, and more current and former employees are considering legal action, according to Ruth Silver Taube, a prominent South Bay employment lawyer.

Silver Taube said she’s gathering information from HomeFirst employees to file a potential discrimination complaint, which could lead to another lawsuit or state fine against the nonprofit. Silver Taube said she’s spoken with around 10 current and former employees, including the five fired Black workers.

“It’s rare,” she said, “that I hear so many concerns at a place like a shelter run by a nonprofit.”

Rev. Jethroe Moore, president of the San Jose/Silicon Valley chapter of the NAACP, said he hopes the county will seriously consider choosing another nonprofit to run the shelter site, which has around 140 beds.

“There needs to be some variety for who’s operating these shelters so they can treat more people respectfully,” he said.

Former HomeFirst employee Michael Love said the nonprofit fired him last year in part for bringing his dog, a lab-and-pitbull mix named Simba, to work at the Sunnyvale shelter near the intersection of Highways 101 and 237. He claimed HomeFirst provided few specific details about his termination from the night shift. Asked about the dog, René Ramirez, HomeFirst’s chief operating officer, said he “couldn’t say that the dog was the reason he was terminated” but that Love had failed to follow protocol by not requesting approval from HR to bring his dog.

Even so, HomeFirst has continued to provide a case manager for Love, who was homeless much of the time he worked at the shelter. The nonprofit eventually helped him find a low-income apartment. But since losing his job, Love, 60, said he’s struggled to afford the roughly $1,100 rent.

“I’m just getting myself back together because that really hurt,” he said.

Anntonette Flowers, 65, said HomeFirst fired her in 2022 after four years as a client coordinator at the Sunnyvale shelter. Flowers, who’s since found work as a nursing assistant, said she was dismissed for shouting at a shelter resident, which she denies.

“It still breaks my heart not having that job,” she said. “It brought a smile to my face when I’d go to work because I knew I was helping somebody.”

Advocates said two other Black employees were fired after an altercation with a shelter resident who attacked their colleague. They said another employee was terminated after being wrongly accused of stalking a resident. Non-Black employees involved in similar incidents, meanwhile, received de-escalation training and kept their jobs, advocates, including the NAACP, claim.

Additionally, advocates said Black shelter residents at the site have been repeatedly discharged for minor incidents and left to fend for themselves on the street.

In an interview, Ramirez denied the nonprofit discriminates against anyone and said it only discharges shelter residents as a last resort, typically for safety concerns related to behavior or for reaching the 120-day maximum and not receiving an extension.

He reiterated the five employees were fired for cause, but declined to go into detail, citing the organization’s personnel policy.

“We don’t typically terminate anyone for just your run-of-the-mill infractions,” Ramirez said. “You don’t get terminated just because you’re late.”

Just before HomeFirst’s shelter agreement was set to expire in December, supervisors approved a temporary $2.2 million contract extension through March, citing the county’s need for more time to consider other operators. Supervisors also asked county staff to look into the discrimination allegations.

In January, staff sent supervisors a four-page report on the bidding process and the claims, finding no residents or employees “have indicated to County staff that they have filed a complaint” to the county or state and federal civil rights agencies.

HomeFirst inked the initial contract for the Sunnyvale shelter in late 2018. The agreement, which also includes money for a HomeFirst-owned shelter in San Jose, amounts to at least $34 million, according to county records.

On March 12, supervisors expect to decide whether to renew HomeFirst’s contracts for the Sunnyvale site and another in Gilroy or award them to another operator. HomeFirst said the county is also considering its contract to fund the San Jose shelter, which the nonprofit owns.

On Feb. 27, Sunnyvale officials will also vote to continue helping pay for services at the Sunnyvale shelter, as well as five beds it funds at the San Jose shelter. The City Council has asked for more data on how many people are using the beds.

Consuelo Hernandez, director of the county’s Office of Supportive Housing, said it was unclear whether the discrimination or wage theft allegations would factor into the contract recommendation county staff present to supervisors.

HomeFirst officials said they had little information about the state wage theft fines for meal and break period violations because staff members who dealt with the matter no longer work for the nonprofit. They declined to comment on the class action suit, filed in Santa Clara County and alleging similar labor infractions, because the case is pending. Attorneys representing the former employee in the case did not return requests for comment.