UCLA Vice Chancellor Mary Osako is suing the University of California Board of Regents to stop the public release of a 264-page investigative report examining allegations that she bullied staff and misused department funds. Seven current and former employees in Osako’s communications division have filed sworn court statements opposing her request, arguing the findings should see daylight.
Osako, who has served as UCLA vice chancellor and head of strategic communications since 2019 and was reappointed to a second five-year term in 2024, filed the lawsuit against the UC Board of Regents on Aug. 26, according to the Daily Bruin. The suit followed at least 22 separate whistleblower and retaliatory reports filed by seven current and former employees alleging she fostered a toxic work environment and mismanaged funds within a communications and marketing enterprise that includes more than 100 workers, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The investigation at the center of the dispute was conducted by Grutman Law, P.C., which produced its report in Sherman Oaks in December 2025 after being commissioned by the UC Board of Regents, the Daily Bruin reports. UCLA has said the investigation substantiated multiple allegations and forwarded its findings to Chancellor Julio Frenk’s office, per the same account. Frenk has nonetheless supported Osako remaining in her job and praised her leadership through budget shortfalls and what the Times describes as Trump administration funding freezes, investigations and lawsuits.
Employees Describe a Culture of Fear and Retaliation
Court filings describe a pattern in which staff who disagreed with Osako or raised concerns were punished, excluded or reassigned, according to the Times. Six employees alleged Osako bullied them or misused university funds, and current and former employees more broadly alleged she mistreated staff and fostered a culture of intimidation and fear.
Shilo Munk alleged that ongoing retaliatory conduct created professional harm, diminished her role and authority, and interfered with her assigned responsibilities, and she filed a retaliation complaint with UCLA’s compliance office in May 2026, the Times reports. Amanda Savercool alleged Osako stopped speaking to her after her first interview with investigators. Michael Callahan alleged that staff tried to avoid incurring Osako’s wrath and scorn; Callahan, who said he had been in 12-step recovery for several years, said he feared losing his sobriety because of unrelenting stress. One employee alleged Osako sought to identify people using the whistleblower hotline in May 2025, and Osako’s own chief of staff alleged retaliation after answering investigators’ questions.
Spending Allegations Target Consultants and Contracts
Beyond the workplace-culture claims, employees alleged Osako hired the Cuore Collective, a strategic communications consulting firm run by former Amazon colleagues, and gave the firm control over certain staff work. A whistleblower report cited by the Daily Bruin alleged Osako paid Cuore Collective $600,000 in fiscal year 2024-25. Employees also alleged she retained two additional external consultants at a cost of nearly $1 million while warning staff of potential budget cuts and layoffs, per the Daily Bruin’s reporting.
Court filings also allege SKDK was used to pitch news coverage of Osako’s 2024 reappointment, and that SKDK and another outside communications firm received contracts often involving overlapping work, according to the Times. Current and former employees further alleged Osako steered university contracts to friends and former colleagues in violation of university policy. Osako’s lawyers said the underlying complaints accused her of misusing public resources for personal gain and self-promotion and of increasing vendor compensation without justification, but disputed many of the accusations and conclusions in the investigative report.
Osako Says She Has Not Been Disciplined
Osako has said she has not been suspended, demoted, terminated or formally disciplined as a result of the allegations in the report, and her lawyer told the Daily Bruin the accusations were false. Her attorneys have also said the report does not conclude that Osako engaged in retaliatory conduct. Osako joined UCLA after holding top communications roles at Activision Blizzard, Amazon and Yahoo, according to the Times.
In court filings, Osako’s lawyers argued the report falls under a public-records exemption for personnel files and warned that release could cause “extremely difficult, if not impossible” reputational harm, per the Times. The Daily Bruin similarly reported that Osako’s attorneys called the report a personnel record whose disclosure would invade her privacy, and alleged it contains factual inaccuracies, omissions and assumptions based in part on anonymous complaints, witness statements and uncorroborated claims.
Lawyers, a Judge and a December Hearing
Greene Broillet & Wheeler represents the former and current communications staffers seeking release of the report, while Michael R. Goldstein represents UC, which has taken no position on whether the records are exempt from public release, the Times reports. Employees’ lawyers have cited appeals court rulings allowing release of substantial allegations against public employees. Mark Quigley, an attorney involved in the case, said the whistleblower complaints were very significant and very substantial, according to the Times.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin extended a temporary order keeping the investigation confidential and ordered UC and Osako’s lawyers to submit copies of the report within one week, the Times reports. The Daily Bruin separately reported that the court granted Osako a temporary restraining order barring UCLA from releasing the report until a hearing on her request for a preliminary injunction. Kin said he could not decide the matter until reviewing the report himself and has set a Dec. 8 hearing to rule on its release. In the meantime, the investigation’s contents will remain out of public view, though UCLA has said it plans to make a redacted version public in response to requests filed under the California Public Records Act.
UCLA spokesperson Brian Brokaw said the university takes workplace concerns seriously, according to the Times, adding that UCLA engaged an outside investigator to review the concerns raised and evaluated the findings through established personnel and legal processes, per the Daily Bruin’s reporting. Five of the seven employees who raised allegations still work under Osako, according to the Times.
An Echo of an Earlier UCLA Records Fight
The standoff recalls an earlier dispute in which the Los Angeles Times sought disclosure of a 60-page investigative report prepared by the independent law firm Hueston Hennigan LLP, according to Law Commentary. An appellate court ruled unanimously, 3-0, that the Hueston report had to be disclosed, finding that personnel-record exemptions under the California Public Records Act are permissive rather than mandatory. That precedent underscores the stakes now facing Kin as he weighs whether the Grutman report on Osako should ultimately reach the public.
