An ongoing scandal involving the Human Rights Commission’s former leader, Sheryl Davis, deepened considerably Tuesday when city investigators said her department had improperly spent $4.6 million in public money over nearly half a decade.
The findings are part of a yearlong probe by the controller and city attorney’s offices into Davis and the department she oversaw before her resignation last year, when questions arose about financial misconduct, sparking a major City Hall scandal.
Investigators identified numerous charges from 2020 to 2024 that are not allowed under city rules, including $6,829 for a lecturer’s 30-day stay at a luxury hotel, $38,439 in alcohol, and $8,000 for a nonprofit’s wellness retreat, among other findings, according to details of the probe shared with The Standard.
The investigation concluded that Davis “knowingly” violated the city’s purchasing rules and created an “unethical” culture at the department.
The revelations come as Davis faces scrutiny on multiple fronts. She is the subject of a criminal probe by the district attorney’s office, and a nonprofit she had cozy ties to is fighting to receive funding again after the city attorney barred it from public money in March.
Davis joined the Human Rights Commission in 2016 and quickly became an important figure in the efforts to infuse public funds into the city’s Black communities. After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, the city launched the Dream Keeper Initiative, a program she oversaw that put tens of millions of dollars toward Black-focused nonprofits.
In September 2024, The Standard reported that Davis shared a home with James Spingola, the executive director of the nonprofit Collective Impact, whose organization had received millions of dollars through the Dream Keeper Initiative. Davis never disclosed her links to Spingola to the city, in a breach of ethics rules.
The city announced an inquiry into the Human Rights Commission’s spending a day after The Standard’s report. It partially focused on “Prop Q,” which allows departments to bypass competitive bidding and the need for a contract if they purchase goods costing less than $10,000. (Last year, the amount was upped to $20,000.) The probe found that in many cases, the Human Rights Commission spent money under the Prop Q cap to avoid additional oversight.
A separate audit into Collective Impact is ongoing.
Tuesday’s investigation found the following:
- In 2024, the department paid the InterContinental hotel $6,829 for a month’s stay for Antoine Phillips, who participated in the Black 2 San Francisco program.
- In 2023, the department paid for another two-week stay at the hotel because Phillips had lost his job and was trying to find employment.
- Phillips and two unknown individuals racked up almost $3,500 in charges for a two-day town car service. He was also paid nearly $12,000 for “consultation and strategic planning meetings.” One invoice linked to the consultation services was listed for $9,999 — $1 less than the Prop Q cap.
- The department spent tens of thousands of dollars on alcohol, which city employees are generally prohibited from expensing. This included a $7,300 bar package at a 2023 Palace of Fine Arts event. The department had no documentation on how the expense was connected to its programming, and it split the invoice to ensure it stayed under the Prop Q limit.
- In 2023, the Human Rights Commission paid $8,000 to Total Women Empowerment Inc. for a “Queen’s Weekend Retreat” after the organization asked Davis to fund the event. The city said the department did not have any way to verify how the money was spent.
- Davis’ department paid COEUR415, an apparel brand, $7,750 for 25 VIP tickets for a 2022 event, including a four-course tasting menu and three wine pairings. The tickets were given to department employees and a contractor who was barred from doing business with the city.
- In 2024, the department paid the United Parcel Service more than $4,000 to ship more than 250 pounds of books and clothing to the Four Seasons Hotel and the Wyndham Hotel in New Orleans. The parcels were addressed to Davis, who has come under fire by the city attorney’s office for using department resources to fund the advertisement of her book, “Free to Sing.” What books and clothing were in the UPS packages is unknown.
- A nearly $60,000 Human Rights Commission charge to the Golden State Warriors for a 2023 event was split into six invoices to stay under the Prop Q cap.
- The department paid $9,300 to Humanitarian Social Innovations, Inc. Davis was told that the department was prohibited from doing business with the organization, since it was located in Pennsylvania, a city rule that has since been repealed. Since the work was done in New York, Davis instructed staff to process it there to bypass the restrictions.
In previous statements through her attorney, Davis has denied any wrongdoing, claiming that she never used public funds to enrich herself personally and that she tried to consult with city officials to ensure she wasn’t engaging in any conflict of interest.
Davis has also said she tried to hire a chief financial officer for her department to provide better financial oversight. The city’s Tuesday audit findings tell a different story, stating that the department waited more than six months to start the process for applicants to apply for the position.
Samuel Thomas was hired as CFO at the end of 2023. The city says Davis approved expenses with which Thomas was uncomfortable, including a rental property in Martha’s Vineyard for a 2023 conference.
According to Thomas’ LinkedIn profile, he is still employed by the city.
In a statement, Human Rights Commission spokesperson Devi Zinzuvadia wrote, “This department holds no greater responsibility than to manage public dollars responsibly, effectively, and with integrity. Our staff is fully committed to looking forward, not only in our compliance efforts but in all the work we are doing to serve our city’s diverse communities and constituents.”
An attorney for Davis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In March, the city attorney’s office released separate investigative findings, including that Davis had used her department’s money to pay for her son’s UCLA tuition. The allegations were part of the city attorney’s probe to cut off Collective Impact’s public funding.
In late August and September, the nonprofit appealed to the city through administrative hearings, arguing that it could collapse by October if it didn’t receive new city contracts.
A decision about Collective Impact’s eligibility for public money is expected in the coming weeks or months.