This article was produced and originally published by The Orion, Chico State’s independent student newspaper. Reporting contributed by: Andrew Vojta, Ronald Bolling, Jr. and Owen Daniels.
Thirteen days after Steve Perez shed the interim tag from his title as president of Chico State, he fired the dean of the College of Agriculture, Patricia Stock, a native of Argentina. Now, she’s suing him and the California State University Board of Trustees for discrimination and retaliation.
Perez told Stock, an at-will employee, that he was firing her because she “antagonized ‘community partners,’” according to court documents filed by Stock’s attorneys. But Stock’s lawyers allege members of the farm community waged a pressure campaign and made disparaging remarks about Stock’s pick to become the new farm director, Ricardo Orellana.
Stock became dean in August 2021. Before then, she worked at the University of Arizona for nearly 25 years. She was recruited away from Arizona to come to Chico State, even taking a significant pay cut because, according to her attorneys, she was excited to work at a Hispanic-Serving Institution, a designation Chico State has held since 2015.
During her time at Chico State, she raised tens of millions of dollars to renovate the University Farm and expand other college programs, court documents show.
After Stock’s first year, then-Provost Debra Larson approved a 15% merit-based bonus of her base pay, which was part of her employment agreement, according to court documents.
She didn’t receive the bonus in her second year because Perez, who was interim-provost at the time, denied it, according to court documents. In an email to then-Vice President for University Advancement Ahmad Boura, Perez wrote: “The difficulty will be that there is evidence that she did (in some way) much of what she was asked.
“However, I believe we have comments, statements, and evidence that she is not working collaboratively with internal staff at the University or College. She has also alienated a significant portion of the agricultural community.”
Hiring a farm director
Court documents allege a pressure campaign to remove Stock from her position as dean after she chose an external, Hispanic candidate instead of Chico State Professor Kasey DeAtley, a local candidate preferred by the Butte County Farm Bureau, a nonprofit organization with faculty and staff ties to the University Farm.
DeAtley declined to comment on the matter.
Documents presented by Stock’s attorneys to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California alleges that members of the Farm Bureau made racist remarks about both Stock and Orellana.
Throughout the hiring process, text messages found in discovery — a process used to gather and present evidence to all parties in the trial — show an effort from some in the Ag college, university and Farm Bureau, to persuade Perez to remove Stock. According to court documents, they sought to influence the decision by leveraging donor contributions.
Part of the pressure allegedly came from former Farm Director David Daley, who announced his intention to retire before Stock became dean, according to court documents.
Alleged donor pressure
In a message exchange between Daley, an unknown number and local rancher Patrick Andersen, they discussed asking donors to threaten to withhold donations from the university.
Court documents show one exchange where Andersen and Daley discussed reaching out to donors to stop contributions. When Andersen told Daley that he informed Boura he was withdrawing his donation, Daley said he hated to see it happen this way, “… but it’s the only way to make change I’m afraid. She’s [Stock) crazy.”
Messages show Daley asking Andersen to get signatures to send Perez. In the same thread, Daley told Andersen that if Boura calls him, then not to “sugarcoat it” and to “tell him what you’re seeing and hearing … basically how she won’t listen and treats people horribly,” according to court documents.
Daley declined to comment, and reporters attempted to reach Andersen by phone, leaving a voicemail asking for comment. He did not respond by time of publication.
Stock’s attorneys say Boura “played a key role in ousting Dr. Stock,” according to a subpoena for Boura. Court documents show lawyers have struggled to reach Boura since he’s been traveling the world since his retirement in May 2025.
Court documents show Daley texted a different group chat and told them he spoke with Dustin Bush, the senior director of philanthropy for University Development, who allegedly told Daley to have donors call directly so he could “… report it up the food chain and it will get action.”
Daley replied: “We need people to call him … she is not well liked on campus so this will add more information that they need. Money talks.”
Court documents show another text message sent to DeAtley by an unidentified source, who said “Steve [Perez] is in a tough spot. I think he knows what’s going on and just needs evidence. She is going to play ‘I’m the only Latina dean in the system and these white farmers are picking on me.’ He will need really good evidence [and] clear direction to what she is doing.”
Farm director position and rising tension
According to court documents, members of the Farm Bureau pushed for DeAtley’s hiring.
“… members openly questioned the right of Latinx workers to participate in agriculture as anything but laborers …” — Patricia Stock’s lawsuit
Court documents show, on Dec. 9, 2022, Cynthia Daley, now director of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems, emailed Stock. According to court documents, Cynthia Daley stated that Colleen Cecil, the Farm Bureau’s executive director and a search committee member, allegedly said the committee should only interview an internal candidate.
Cynthia Daley emphasized that the farm director search should be expanded beyond internal candidates, which opened the door for, among others, Orellana.
Other text messages found in pre-trial discovery portrayed hostility toward both Stock and Orellana.
In a message exchange between Farm staffers Haydn Clement and Organic Dairy Farm Director Darby Heffner, Clement said: “Kasey [DeAtley] has it in the bag but there is one foreigner that knows how to play the game,” according to court documents.
Heffner replies with “Fucking foreigner … the Dean is probably all about that,” court documents show.
Reporters attempted to reach out to Haydn Clement by phone and left a voicemail asking for comment. There was no response at the time of publication.
Messages show some were frustrated with Stock, accusing her of failing to listen to some faculty and staff or treating employees unfairly, according to court documents.
When Stock went to inform DeAtley that Orellana was going to be offered the position, DeAtley allegedly told Stock that, even if offered the position, she was prepared to turn it down, according to court documents.
Orellana was selected, and the decision was finalized, but tensions continued to escalate between Stock and Farm Bureau members, according to court documents.
Stock’s complaint alleges that members of the Farm Bureau “demanded that Dr. Stock ‘explain’ Dr. Orellana’s selection, calling her to an in-person meeting on May 9, 2023, where members openly questioned the right of Latinx workers to participate in agriculture as anything but laborers, even suggesting Latinx students were not suitable members of the Future Farmers of America.”
One of the people at the meeting allegedly threatened Stock: “This will not be forgotten,” and “this will not be forgiven,” according to court documents.
Stock asked to meet with Perez, who was still interim-provost, and sent a summary of the meeting via email. “I expressed my concerns about the hostile environment that had been created during this meeting and the importance that as a campus we delivered a unified message,” Stock put in a compiled timeline in court documents. She alleges that Perez never responded.
Stock’s firing
On June 14, 2023, Perez fired Stock without providing a reason until a later date, according to court documents. The documents state that the meeting lasted only a few minutes and Perez was accompanied by human resources administrators.
“These administrators then encouraged Dr. Stock to resign, forfeiting her right to retreat to a faculty position, in exchange for permission to announce her ‘resignation’ and send a message passing the decision off as her own,” Stock’s complaint filing alleges.
The day after her firing, Stock’s complaint alleges, Perez attended the Butte County Farm Bureau’s annual barbecue and “admonished Dr. Orellana to ‘do what Dave Daley says’ and volunteered that Daley was ‘advising’ him on the University Farm and the College of Agriculture.” At this point, Daley was no longer employed by the university.
Stock soon appealed the termination to Sheryl Woodward, vice president for Staff Human Resources, and garnered numerous letters of support from the regional and state agricultural community as well as her peers, according to court documents.
Letters of support
Those letters, sent to Perez, commended Stock’s accolades and achievements during her time as dean. Among the letters was one from the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, Karen Ross.
“Dr. Stock’s vision for the CSU Chico farm and the five-year strategic plan for the college demonstrate what a vital role Chico State plays for California agriculture and especially for the Northern region,” she said.
Letters of support were also sent by several deans at the university, such as Tracy Butts, Eddie Vela and Sharon Barrios, along with faculty members from the Agricultural Department, court documents show.
Agricultural members also sent letters of support, such as the owners of C&R Ranch and Jessica Lundberg of Lundberg Family Farms.
“She is an outstanding leader! Under her leadership Chico State’s Ag Department expanded its international reputation of collaboration and excellence,” Lundberg said in a letter of support.
Stock is also suing for retaliation, according to court documents. Stock’s lawyers allege that she had identified discrepancies in the Farm’s financials and bidding processes, favoring certain members of the Farm Bureau.
“A fundamental question here is why are some Farm Bureau members so upset with my performance as Dean or my selection of Farm Director?” Stock asked in the appeal. “Absolutely none of them had incurred any financial cost or hardship under my current management, nor were any in any danger of losing any financial opportunities in doing business with the farm.”
A response letter to Stock’s complaint notes that the Board of Trustees and President Perez “generally and specifically” deny allegations made by Stock. Perez, during a court deposition, repeatedly claimed Stock wasn’t working well with university staff or members of the farming community.
Stock is seeking at least $4 million in damages, according to court documents. Stock, represented by King & Siegel LLP, filed a complaint on April 8, 2024, against Perez and the Board of Trustees, represented by Porter Scott Attorneys.
Public Relations Director Andrew Staples said the university is unable to comment on ongoing litigation.
Chris Hutton and Sean Shanks are Chico State journalism majors about to graduate.