A federal decide has — for the second time — dismissed a $25-million lawsuit by former Sheriff Alex Villanueva towards Los Angeles County alleging that county officers defamed him and violated his rights.
The lawsuit claimed that Villanueva misplaced out on potential employment alternatives as a result of his personnel file was flagged as “don’t rehire” after a county panel decided that he had harassed two officers. Villanueva’s go well with claimed that an Inside Affairs Bureau investigation into his conduct was a “sham” that violated his due course of rights.
In September, U.S. District Choose Stephen V. Wilson threw out Villanueva’s preliminary go well with however left the door open for him to refile as a result of a number of claims remained unresolved.
Villanueva refiled the case, alleging that he’d suffered emotional misery and that the “don’t rehire” notation made it troublesome for him to discover a job. However Wilson once more dismissed the go well with, writing in his determination Thursday that there was inadequate proof to show Villanueva had been harmed or that the designation had precipitated him to lose out on a desired place.
“The Courtroom’s ruling decisively affirms the County’s place from the outset that the previous sheriff’s lawsuit was fully unfounded,” Jason Tokoro, a companion on the Miller Barondess legislation agency appearing as outdoors counsel for the county, stated in an electronic mail. “The proof proved his claims had been baseless and had no place in a court docket of legislation.”
Wilson wrote that though he had dismissed the ultimate remaining federal declare, there are nonetheless state issues pending that the court docket “declines to train jurisdiction over.”
“We’re more than happy that the Sheriff’s consequential complaints of defamation and emotional misery will transfer ahead, and that we’ll have the chance to carry the County of Los Angeles accountable in state court docket,” Carney Shegerian, an lawyer for Villanueva, stated in an announcement.
Villanueva’s lawsuit arose after Inspector Normal Max Huntsman accused the then-sheriff in 2022 of creating a “racially based mostly assault” by repeatedly referring to Huntsman by his start title Max-Gustaf. Villanueva additionally accused Huntsman of being a Holocaust denier, with out offering any proof to help that declare, which Huntsman denied.
Huntsman’s grievance led to a county investigation and the “don’t rent” designation, which Villanueva maintains was not justified. In a court docket submitting final month, the previous sheriff disputed an evaluation by a county-hired knowledgeable psychiatrist that described him as having “many attributes of a ‘white-collar psychopath.’ ”
Wilson‘s 28-page Thursday submitting stated that Villanueva didn’t present adequate proof to substantiate key claims and that he failed to point out how he was harmed by the county’s actions.
The dismissal got here on the heels of a submitting within the case by attorneys for L.A. County that alleged Villanueva was harassing Sheriff Robert Luna and members of the Board of Supervisors by attempting to name them as witnesses at a possible civil trial.
Additionally on Villanueva’s supposed witness checklist was former Occasions reporter Keri Blakinger, who initially reported on the “don’t rehire” designation final yr.
Courtroom filings within the case say Villanueva allegedly discovered of the allegation that Huntsman was a Holocaust denier from former L.A. Sheriff’s Division Det. Mark Lillienfeld, who has additionally been positioned on a “do not rehire” checklist for unrelated causes.
A separate grievance across the time of Huntsman’s declare was made by Esther Lim — then a justice deputy for county Supervisor Hilda Solis — who argued that Villanueva had proven a sample of harassing ladies of colour in feedback he made throughout social media livestreams. Her declare additionally resulted in an investigation and a “don’t rehire” designation.
Huntsman and Lim declined to remark Thursday afternoon.
Former Occasions workers author Keri Blakinger contributed this report.
