Supervisor Belia Ramos files court documents alleging harassment (2024)

Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos is seeking a restraining order against a high-level wine industry executive, according to court documents filed on Friday. According to Ramos, the executive leaked confidential information about a child welfare investigation in the final days before the primary election this March.

The petition by Ramos targets Debra Dommen, vice president for government and industry affairs at Treasury Wine Estates, the owner of high-profile Napa Valley brands like Frank Family Vineyards, Sterling, Beringer, Etude and Beaulieu Vineyard.

In her 17-page filing at Napa County Superior Court, Ramos says she and Dommen were former friends who had “a falling out for a number of reasons,” without disclosing why. The two-term county supervisor notes that Dommen supported her opponent in the 5th District race but adds: “I have no problem with this type of behavior, as I recognize it is fundamental to our democratic process.”

Ramos bested American Canyon Councilmember Mariam Aboudamous in the March 5 contest, securing a third term by winning the two-person race.

Where Dommen crossed the line, according to the filing, is when she began sending confidential information about a Solano County Child Welfare Services investigation regarding Ramos and her eldest daughter to various members of the community, including Napa City Councilmember Mary Luros. (According to outside experts, Solano County conducted the investigation because Ramos, due to her position, could be seen as being able to influence any Napa County-based investigation.)

In a separate filing related to Ramos’ family-court case, Luros said that Dommen’s daughter, a baby-sitter for the Luros family, provided her with a sealed envelope that contained the child welfare report.

Ramos’ filing also describes a February conversation with Dan Evans, executive editor of the Napa Valley Register. Evans, she said, revealed that he had a copy of the document but declined to say how he received it.

(The Register is declining, at this time, to detail the allegations in the Child Welfare Services report, as a marking on the document states it was “stricken per court order” from the record, it involves a minor, and it is unclear whether there are additional confidential reports that add to, refute or provide additional context to the issue at hand.)

On March 2, Ramos said she met with campaign volunteers at the corner of Oak and Seminary streets, a place they had been gathering for more than a month.

“When I exited my car, Jim King, one of my volunteers, asked to speak to me privately at a tree,” said Ramos. “Upon walking up to the tree, I saw the ‘CWS’ letter stapled to the tree.”

She said she was later told by King that another dozen copies of the letter had been stapled to trees in nearby Fuller Park, as well as to more trees elsewhere in downtown Napa.

Because of those disclosures, Ramos said, she has filed a motion to have her entire family law case file — which dates to 2013 — sealed. A hearing on that request is scheduled for Aug. 5.

“Respondent’s actions were not only a violation of the law, but done purely as a form of harassment and abuse,” the filing states. “As a result, I have suffered from anxiety, stress and financial loss of donations toward my political campaign. In addition, I have had to spend thousands of dollars in attorneys fees and costs to ensure the protected information stops being shared publicly.”

A message and email left with Ramos were not immediately returned.

Late Friday, Kevin Block, an attorney representing Dommen, said he will oppose any restraining order against his client, which he called an unconstitutional prior restraint of Dommen’s First Amendment free-speech rights.

“Debra Dommen is not the villain in this case,” he told the Napa Valley Register, saying he will pursue a Wednesday hearing in the Napa court to rescind the restraining order.

Dommen found documents about Ramos’ family-law case in December in an open, unsealed court file, then shared copies with friends and colleagues during January and February “in an effort to persuade them not to vote for Belia” in the supervisor race, according to Block.

“Since the end of the election, I don’t think the letter has come up, and she hasn’t talked about with it anyone,” he said in a brief interview, denying that Dommen had any role in distributing the child welfare document at Fuller Park.

“It was a public document because it’s in the open court file. It’s floating around in the world,” said Block. “What can you do? You can’t take all of those copies back.”

In addition to those allegations, Ramos detailed other incidents she claimed were abuse or harassment. This included an encounter in the parking lot of St. John’s Lutheran School in April 2023 where, Ramos claims, Dommen grabbed her daughters by the shoulders and loudly said, “Steer clear of the child abuser.”

Ramos also claims that at a Jan. 19 Napa Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Dommen told state Sen. Bill Dodd that “he is dead, and it’s her fault.”

“Respondent was referring to me having involvement in the suicide of Ryan Klobas, former Napa County Farm Bureau CEO,” the filing states. “She has repeated these harassing and defamatory statements to Mary Luros and Joelle Gallagher, who are also other elected officials.”

The 46-year-old Klobas, who had led the farm bureau since 2018, died Jan. 16 in Orinda. The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office has said Klobas died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, but has declined to share further details.

In a court deposition Thursday, Dommen denied saying that Ramos was responsible for Klobas’ death, according to Block, who also pushed back against other allegations by the supervisor.

“Threats, violence, intimidation— none of that happened,” he said Friday. “All of that is just boilerplate.”

Ramos is asking a judge to order Dommen not to reveal any confidential information related to her family law issues, and to stay at least 100 yards away from her, two of her three children, her home, workplace and children's schools. She is also asking for $10,000 in legal fees connected to a related child custody case, as well as an unspecified amount related to this filing.