The former executive director of the Humane Society of Ventura County has filed a wrongful-termination lawsuit, claiming he was pushed out after he insisted on investigating a sexual-harassment complaint against the organization's own board chair. Tim Blaylock, who led the Ojai-based nonprofit before his ouster, alleges he lost his job for doing the right thing.
Blaylock's lawsuit claims he was fired after he insisted on an investigation into an employee's complaint that the chair of the organization's board, Ron Schmidt, harassed her, according to the Ventura County Star. Schmidt became chair of the Humane Society of Ventura County board in February 2025, after previously serving as board chair of the Maui Humane Society and moving to Ventura from Maui in spring 2024. He is not named as a defendant in the suit, which targets only the organization itself, and the Humane Society had not yet responded in court as of publication.
What Happened at the Birthday Bash
According to Blaylock's lawsuit, the alleged incident took place at the Humane Society's annual Birthday Bash fundraiser on June 14, 2025, in Ojai, where the organization marked its 93rd year and drew 350 guests. Kimberly Hunt served as master of ceremonies at the event, which raised more than $100,000, per a Humane Society newsletter cited in the same report. During the gathering, the lawsuit alleges, Schmidt grabbed a female Humane Society employee by the arm and told her she was smoking hot.
The employee filed a complaint with the organization's human resources department, and Blaylock says he asked for an outside attorney to investigate the matter. His lawsuit also claims Schmidt said he would resign if the incident were reported to the full board, and that board members told Blaylock he had engaged in no illegal or unethical conduct.
Leave, Then Termination
Blaylock was then placed on administrative leave while the investigation was pending, the lawsuit states, and he says he was required to meet with an investigator during that period. He alleges he was terminated by the Humane Society about a week after Schmidt and the board's vice chair informed him of the decision.
Blaylock filed his lawsuit on Sept. 8 in Ventura County Superior Court. It alleges that the Humane Society of Ventura County violated California law in three ways: retaliation for insisting on an investigation into the harassment complaint, termination because he opposed unlawful sexual harassment, and failure to prevent violations of the state's fair employment law. He is seeking lost salary and benefits, other damages plus interest, and attorney's fees and other costs to bring the suit.
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act applies to public and private employers. It bars covered employers from retaliating against workers for asserting rights under the law, while prohibitions on harassment apply even in workplaces with fewer than five employees. Employers with five or more workers must provide sexual-harassment training. Those rules frame Blaylock’s claims, but the court has yet to determine whether his actions were legally protected or whether the Humane Society retaliated against him. The state Civil Rights Department’s overview of FEHA outlines those protections.
Blaylock had previously spent 12 years as CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme before joining the Humane Society. The Humane Society declined to make other board members or employees available for interviews about the lawsuit, and Schmidt declined to comment through a Humane Society spokesperson.
New Leadership, New Direction
The Humane Society replaced Blaylock with Daniel Roselle, who became executive director in October 2025. During Roselle's first six months, the organization cut its staff from about 45 to 35 employees through a combination of attrition and layoffs, the Star reported. It also shut down the department that investigated animal abuse and neglect and began phasing out its horse shelter in favor of a foster program in which volunteers would care for horses and other large animals on their own properties.
The Humane Society’s closure of its animal-abuse investigation program was separate from the workplace investigation at issue in Blaylock’s suit. The organization says Ventura County Animal Services is better positioned to provide animal-control and humane-investigation services to municipalities it contracts with; HSVC says it held no such municipal contracts and that its own program was narrower and overlapping. It says it remains committed to supporting community partners. The organization’s explanation of the program’s closure describes that shift in responsibilities.
Roselle said the changes were necessary so the organization can make better use of donor funds and take care of more animals with the resources it has, per the same account. The nonprofit has also announced plans to open a low-cost veterinary clinic in Oxnard and build new kennels at its Ojai headquarters in 2027.
Founded in 1932, the Humane Society of Ventura County operates as a private nonprofit from a 4.4-acre Ojai property and serves animals throughout the county. It says its work is funded by community donations, not city, state or federal government funds, and that it is not affiliated with the Humane Society of the United States or the ASPCA. That funding model provides context for the organization’s stated focus on allocating resources among shelter, adoptions and other services. The Humane Society’s history and mission describe its role and funding.
The organization's own data, cited by the outlet, shows some operational gains this year: in the first eight months of 2026, the nonprofit placed 223 dogs in permanent homes, up from 157 over the same period of 2025. Half of adopted dogs now find a home within 14 days, compared to 24 days last year, according to the figures.
The Humane Society also added four new board members in 2024 and two more in 2025, part of the broader turnover at the organization since Blaylock's departure. For now, the central dispute over why he lost his job remains unresolved in court, with the nonprofit yet to file a response to his claims.
