Former Sheriff Alex Villanueva plans to file a $25-million federal lawsuit towards Los Angeles County for placing a “Do Not Rehire” notation in his personnel file after an oversight panel stated he harassed and discriminated towards two county staff.
In early 2022, a kind of staff — Inspector Common Max Huntsman — accused then-Sheriff Villanueva of “canine whistling to the extremists he caters to” when he repeatedly referred to the inspector basic by his foreign-sounding beginning identify, Max-Gustaf. Just a few weeks later, Villanueva publicly accused Huntsman of being a Holocaust denier.
Across the similar time, a justice deputy for county Supervisor Hilda Solis filed a criticism accusing Villanueva of focusing on and harassing ladies of colour. Final fall, the County Fairness Oversight Panel sustained complaints in each instances and advisable Villanueva — who had been voted out of workplace by that time — be deemed ineligible for rehire.
Villanueva’s lawyer referred to as the advice — which the division in the end adopted — a “deadly blow” to the previous sheriff’s prolonged profession in a 196-page tort declare letter dated Wednesday. The letter accused the county of “scarlet-lettering” Villanueva with “defamatory allegations” throughout a secretive authorized course of that gave him no probability to reply.
“The county spent 5 years defaming me and making an attempt to persuade the general public that I used to be this horrible human being,” Villanueva instructed The Instances on Wednesday. “The fact was the precise reverse.”
He and his lawyer, Carney Shegerian, additionally stated the county violated cut-off dates specified by the state’s Public Security Officers Procedural Invoice of Rights by inserting the “Do Not Rehire” notation in his file greater than a 12 months after receiving the complaints about him.
The Sheriff’s Division didn’t instantly provide remark.
In an emailed assertion late Wednesday, attorneys for the county stated they hadn’t but evaluated the declare.
“At this level, nonetheless, we are able to say that the County takes severely its statutory requirement to be clear about its peace officers’ actions, together with the kind of sustained misconduct that led to a ‘Do Not Rehire’ advice for former Sheriff Villanueva,” the assertion stated.
The tensions that led to the formal fairness complaints started not lengthy after Villanueva took workplace. After ousting his predecessor in 2018, Villanueva repeatedly sparred with county oversight officers in addition to the Board of Supervisors. He leveled private assaults towards Huntsman, requested county supervisors to take away him from his watchdog publish and ultimately banned him from the division’s amenities and databases, saying he was a suspect in two felony instances.
Huntsman was extremely vital of the sheriff’s dealing with of the division. He revealed a number of investigatory reviews accusing Villanueva of “illegal conduct” and issued subpoenas making an attempt to drive his cooperation in oversight investigations.
In March 2022, Huntsman filed a criticism accusing Villanueva of sending an electronic mail “all through the Sheriff’s Division that was a racially biased assault.” Within the electronic mail, Villanueva allegedly referred to Huntsman by his full identify.
When Villanueva discovered about Huntsman’s criticism that month, he in flip instructed The Instances editorial board about it, including within the new declare about Huntsman’s supposed denial of the Holocaust.
“You do understand that Max Huntsman, one, he’s a Holocaust denier,” Villanueva instructed the board. “I don’t know for those who’re conscious of that. I’ve it from two separate sources.”
The editorial board capabilities independently of The Instances’ newsroom, and the interview — throughout Villanueva’s reelection marketing campaign — got here as a part of the board’s traditional endorsement course of within the 2022 election cycle.
On the time, Huntsman wrote a letter to the Board of Supervisors, alerting them to the sheriff’s allegations and providing a response. He denied the accusation and wrote that Villanueva was “canine whistling to his extra excessive supporters that I’m German and/or Jewish and therefore un-American.”
Huntsman declined a request for additional remark Wednesday.
Esther Lim — Solis’ justice deputy — filed her personal criticism the identical week as Huntsman in 2022. Pointing to feedback the previous sheriff made on Fb livestreams, Lim alleged a sample of age discrimination and harassment of Asian ladies. Lim didn’t reply to a request for remark this week.
Close to the top of 2022, Villanueva misplaced his bid for reelection. Afterward, he stated, he heard nothing farther from the county concerning the complaints or their end result till The Instances revealed an article about it this 12 months.
By that time, Villanueva was operating for a spot on the Board of Supervisors — a race he misplaced within the main to the incumbent, Janice Hahn. In emails to The Instances earlier this 12 months, he referred to as the “Do Not Rehire” designation a “brazen try” at “electioneering.” His lawyer repeated these allegations on this week’s declare.
The declare additionally defended Villanueva’s use of the inspector basic’s full identify, noting that his longer, hyphenated identify is included on some public information web sites in addition to on his desk plaque. The declare didn’t handle the previous sheriff’s description of Huntsman as a Holocaust denier.
However on the telephone Wednesday afternoon, Villanueva and his lawyer each reiterated the allegation about Huntsman, which the previous sheriff stated stemmed from a prolonged investigation. “We’re assured concerning the supply,” Villanueva stated, including that it was “not stunning” given Huntsman’s “household historical past.” (Beforehand, the inspector basic has stated that his grandfather was conscripted into the Nazi military and that the “means the Nazis functioned” did nice injury to his household. )
The previous sheriff went on to allege that the investigations into his conduct have been in retaliation for complaints he’d made to county supervisors. He and his lawyer raised questions concerning the timing of the panel’s October resolution, which got here a month after Villanueva introduced his candidacy for the Board of Supervisors.
The declare stated Villanueva’s “lengthy, storied profession” had been “delivered to a standstill” with out correct transparency or due course of.
Although Villanueva is not employed by the Sheriff’s Division, he instructed The Instances that he feared the “Do Not Rehire” designation may hurt his skill to land different jobs in legislation enforcement. Along with the $25-million payout, he’s asking the courtroom to order the designation rescinded.
He stated he has not but decided as as to if he would possibly run for sheriff once more.
