In a scathing lawsuit, former Gold Ridge Fire Protection District (GRFPD) employee Tiffanie Nicole Herring has accused its fire chief, Shepley Schroth-Cary, of a systematic pattern of sexual harassment, abetted by officer Karen Leslie McCormick and Manuel James Medeiros, a friend and property-mate of Herring’s.
The one-time administrative assistant for the district filed the suit on July 2, claiming a hostile work environment was created by Schroth-Cary, as well as by McCormick.
GRFPD Deputy Chief Dave Bray said the suit came in the wake of her May dismissal for alleged financial improprieties. On August 26, Herring was arrested by Sonoma County Sheriff's deputies on charges of forgery, grand theft and embezzlement.
Herring was employed by the Monte Rio Fire Protection District and its successor agency, the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District (GRFPD), from 2019 until what she claims was her wrongful termination on May 15, 2026.
Her suit alleges she was put on administrative leave for not responding to sexual advances and that the department’s financial investigation of her was retaliation for her complaints against officer McCormick and Chief Schroth-Cary.
“We’re aware of the allegations, but we have not been served with the complaint,” said Bray. “We take workplace allegations seriously, and they will be reviewed and handled through the proper channels.”
Bray added that Herring was flagged for alleged misconduct in July 2025, which set off an internal investigation.
In Sept. 2025, a Gold Ridge board agenda shows that Herring’s access to online banking was removed.
“After we interviewed Miss Herring for the internal investigation, that’s when she then leveled claims against the district,” Bray said.
He said that the Gold Ridge District had first alerted the Sheriff’s Department about issues with Herring last summer and that they had been working with the Sheriff’s Department since last fall.
“Then she was arrested last week for multiple felonies,” Bray said. “It’s an unfortunate situation.”
On Aug. 26, at around 9:07 a.m., Herring was arrested and booked into the Sonoma County Jail on charges of forgery, grand theft and embezzlement.
Asked how much money these charges involved, Lt. Juan Valencia, Sonoma County Sheriff Department public information officer, wrote, “Thousands of dollars. The case is still being investigated.”
Valencia said Herring was later released on zero bail.
The suit filed by Herring addresses the initial alleged misconduct as a “single accidental credit card charge[s] that had occurred the prior month due to Shopify data mining practices,” a supposed pretext for an administrative leave that had occurred five days after Schroth-Cary allegedly made the comment about he and Herring “not yet having had any fun” together.
The investigation into Herring’s financial wrongdoings, according to the suit, was initiated and shaped by McCormick—who Herring had been reporting for workplace misconduct.
According to the lawsuit, Herring claims McCormick had been sending sexual photographs to firefighters, giving herself pay raises amounting to a 253% increase and keeping wine in the firehouse to drink with on-duty firefighters—all issues which Herring said she had brought to Schroth-Cary’s attention with no disciplinary action pursued.
During her seven years of employment and connection with Gold Ridge, Herring alleges she was subjected to a consistent pattern of unwanted sexual advances by Schroth-Cary and a hostile work environment perpetuated by McCormick, as well as a discriminatory pay scheme.
Herring alleges that on Aug. 19, 2020, during a work-related drive to the Walbridge Fire, Schroth-Cary suggested the pair have sexual intercourse in a creek bed if the blaze became too dangerous. She also claimed he grabbed her breast in Oct. 2020 and that at her August 2021 wedding reception, he licked cake off her face in the presence of witnesses.
In response to these claims, Bray said, “The District absolutely denies the allegations of harassment and wrongful termination made against the District and its employees.”
The web of allegations becomes more complex with the addition of Medeiros to the suit, who Herring claims had a sexual relationship with McCormick and used his privileged position as a friend and property-mate of the Herrings to provide the Gold Ridge officer with sensitive information about the couple.
Medeiros, who shares a property with the Herrings as a Tenancy-in-Common, has his own legal history with the ousted administrative assistant. On Feb. 12 of this year, Herring and her husband, Vincent Herring, filed a real estate partition and emotional distress case against Medeiros, claiming he was harassing them with noise, destruction to the property and unkept promises for improvements to the real estate. On July 21, Herring filed a restraining order against Medeiros; Medeiros, in turn, filed a restraining order against Herring on July 31.
Medeiros’s lawyer John Streett and Herring’s lawyer Julia Donoho both declined to comment on their clients’ cases.
The Gold Ridge Fire Protection District was created in 1993, and Sebastopol was brought under its jurisdiction in 2025. It serves nearly 22,000 people across a 226-square-mile district.
Is the journalist in the room with us? Local reporting is so important right now. This is a one sided story from an unreliable source with an axe to grind that would make Fox News proud. I thought Sebastopol Times was better than this.
This is a messy, sad state of affairs. Rather than passing judgement, I'll focus on living the best life I can... and leave the legal system to work this out.