Bed bugs continue to be a problem for employees at the California Department of Education (CDE) who say the building at 1430 N St. in Sacramento has been infested.
“I saw with my own eyes at least 50 bugs,” said Gina Garcia-Smith, an education programs consultant at CDE.
Garcia-Smith said what began as an isolated incident in one area of the building has now spread to multiple floors, causing widespread anxiety about working conditions among staff, forcing them to work entirely remotely until at least July 13. It comes as state workers are beginning to return to the office following Governor Gavin Newsom’s mandate, which has been met with intense pushback.
The department isn't under the RTO mandate and is still hybrid, coming into the office only two days a week. But a recent bill pushed through the legislature placing CDE under the Governor’s control could change that, potentially exposing more workers.
“When you are a leader, you have a responsibility to make sure that your employees are safe in the office and not be on their hands and knees with a flashlight,” Garcia-Smith said.
Service Employees International Union Local 1000 (SEIU), which represents 96,000 state workers, released a statement saying exposure to bed bugs risks workers having to replace their belongings or pay out of pocket to fumigate their own homes.
“California's affordability crisis is already crushing state workers, and now unsafe worksites threaten to pile on more unexpected costs,” said Ancia Walls, SEIU Local 1000 President.
In a statement to CapRadio, the Department of General Services (DGS), which manages the building, acknowledged the presence of bed bugs but denied there was an infestation.
“When DGS was notified of the presence of bedbugs at the building, we acted immediately,” the statement said. “The building was closed to allow for a thorough inspection and implementation of industry standards by subject matter experts that help with the eradication of the bed bugs. All areas were inspected, and areas were treated as recommended by the subject matter experts.”
On June 3, two bed bugs were seen in an employee’s cubicle on the third floor. CDE leadership was immediately notified, according to Garcia-Smith.
An internal email was sent later that day asking all employees to work remotely for the rest of the day out of an abundance of caution “given the past history of the building.” The CDE headquarters had previously been the site of a possible infestation back in 2024.
The next day on June 4, staff were informed by DGS that a contracted pest control inspector determined that “no bed bug activity was detected” but a deep cleaning would be done, and the situation would continue to be monitored.
But on June 23, more bed bugs were spotted in a conference room, the same location as the previous sightings back in 2024. Garcia-Smith said it was 15 ft from where the two bugs had been seen weeks prior.
“[Employees] moved the table and pulled up the cord cover and bugs just scattered. Swarms. It was disturbing,” Garcia-Smith said.
Garcia-Smith described the bugs as a reddish-brown color and “plump.”
“These are bed bugs that have been eating the human blood of my colleagues who have unknowingly been sitting in these chairs, in meetings, and being bitten,” Garcia-Smith said.
Emily Ingram, an education programs consultant at CDE, said working in a building with bed bugs has taken a toll on everyone’s psyche.
“It kind of gets to your head a bit,” Ingram said. “You start to worry that maybe during the two weeks in June that they told us we had to come back to the office two days a week and that everything was all clear. Well, clearly it wasn't, so did I bring something home during that time?”
The union SEIU Local 1000 filed a formal complaint and State Superintendent Tony Thurmond sent a request to DGS to treat the entire building which hasn’t been done. Ingram and Garcia-Smith said they felt disrespected and betrayed that they are being allowed to work in this environment while DGS “refuses” to treat the building.
DGS stated their pest management consultants didn’t recommend treating the whole building after inspection.
“Bedbugs are generally pesticide resistant, there is no way to simply spray/fumigate a building – the methods used to treat an office building are more complicated,” DGS said. "We are working with the Department of Education on next steps."
While DGS denies bed bugs are present in other state buildings, workers have highlighted multiple agencies that have other hazardous conditions including the presence of legionella bacteria in the tap water, asbestos, and rats, according to the union.
In 2024, CalMatters reported legionella bacteria, which can lead to pneumonia and cause Legionnaires Disease, had been found in 37 buildings since it began testing in June 2022
“State workers keep California working, and they never should have been forced into offices with unsafe or unsanitary conditions in the first place,” Walls said.
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