Major Wine Exec Hit With Restraining Order From Politician She Allegedly Accused of Child Abuse, Encouraging a Suicide
A wine executive for a prominent company representing brands like Daou, received a restraining order against her for alleging a politician was responsible for child abuse and encouraging an official to commit suicide. (Photo: AP Photo/Santa Rosa Press Democrat, Kent Porter)
The Press Democrat reported on Friday that Debra Dommen, the vice president for government and industry affairs at Treasury Wine Estates, a major company behind wines like Daou, 19 Crimes and Penfolds, had a restraining order filed against her by Napa County Supervisor Belia Ramos. Ramos alleges that Dommen has been distributing sensitive documents to thwart her reelection campaign.
Ramos filed the restraining order after alleging that Dommen shared a private document claiming that Ramos abused her oldest daughter.
In the restraining order, the Napa County Supervisor claimed that she got wind of Dommen’s alleged actions after meeting with the editors of the Napa Valley Register. Ramos claimed she received an emailed list of questions probing into her family life.
“After receiving the email, I received a follow-up phone call from Mr. Evans, the editor of the paper, stating that he received a large stack of documents about the family law case including confidential documents about a Child Welfare Services investigation which occurred in Solano County,” Remos said, according to the Press Domcrat. “The understanding was that these documents were provided to him in order to publish a ‘hit piece’ to disclose the confidential information in hopes of hurting my re-election chances.”
Ramos alleged the wine executive has been telling others that Ramos was responsible for the January suicide of the CEO of Napa County’s Farm Bureau, according to the Press Democrat.
A Napa County Superior Court judge granted Ramos’ restraining order over claims of “civil harassment.”
According to the Press Democrat, Ramos alleged Dommen vehemently opposed her reelection campaign. Ramos says she believes Dommen shared confidential forms involving the pending child welfare investigation to discourage people from voting for the incumbent Napa County Supervisor.
Ramos claimed she suffered “anxiety, stress and financial loss of donations.” In the restraining order, the politician shared an incident that took place in April:
“While I was walking in the St John’s Lutheran School parking lot, Respondent was walking towards me with her daughter and grabs her daughter by the shoulders, pulling her towards herself and loudly says ‘steer clear of the child abuser.’ The comment was made loud enough that other other parents and students could likely have heard what she said.”
Yet, Dommen’s alleged efforts did not work — Ramos was elected for a third term.
Dommen’s attorney balked at Ramos’ restraining order, citing his client’s First Amendment rights and calling Ramos “very thin-skinned.”
“Debra did not do anything wrong,” he said to The Press Democrat. “Last I heard, there was a First Amendment in this country and she’s entitled to distribute this letter, given that she received it from public court files. It’s a public record.”
The Napa County Supervisor filed to have the case involving her family sealed, and a hearing is scheduled for August 5.
Dommen’s attorney expects that she will deny Ramos’ claims that she distributed these confidential documents to dissuade people from voting for her.
Readers expressed their thoughts in the comments sections, calling it the situation a “cat fight.”
“The wine industry likes to portray itself as a symbol of the good life, represented by the kindly patriarch tending his sun-blessed vines with his loyal dogs cavorting in the vineyard,” a reader named OldCrow commented. “Well, that’s the marketing version anyway. From my fifty years experience living and working around the industry I know that it can be as cutthroat and nasty as any other business. The reality is very far from the image.”
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