San Francisco  The San Francisco Ethics Commission on Jan. 9 approved a stipulated agreement and $2,500 penalty in the case of Dr. Godfred Masinde, the director of the Public Health Lab at the Department of Public Health, finding he caused other city employees to accept prohibited gifts from Abbott Laboratories.

Investigator Eric Willett told commissioners the lab held a holiday luncheon during the 2023 season at a restaurant paid for by Abbott. Each of the 19 employees who attended received a gift with an estimated value of $128, a per-person amount that exceeded the city's $25-per-occasion limit for accepting gifts from restricted sources. Staff recommended a $2,500 penalty for Dr. Masinde, who did not attend the event but arranged the invitations and coordinated staff participation.

Willett and enforcement staff described mitigating factors: the event appeared to be an isolated incident, there was no evidence Dr. Masinde personally benefited, and he completed annual ethics training after the event (staff recorded completion as of March 11, 2025). Commissioners asked follow-up questions about whether Abbott had any pending contracts at the time and whether the respondent intended to attend; staff said the respondent was out of the country and there was no evidence he was the contract decision-maker for Abbott's 2021 contract deliverables.

Commissioners also asked whether funds would be returned to Abbott; staff said the penalty would be paid to the general fund and not returned to the vendor. Enforcement staff explained that a lower penalty relative to the total value of gifts reflected mitigating circumstances and the respondent's lack of a prior enforcement record.

A motion to adopt the proposed stipulation passed 3–1, with Commissioner Sy voting no. The penalty will be paid to the City's general fund as the stipulated disposition of the matter.