Eastern District of California Blog

EDCA Court Dismisses Sexual Harrassment Suit Against Yolo County Sheriff

A sexual harassment lawsuit targeting Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto has been thrown out of court by a Sacramento federal judge.

Yolo sheriff’s Deputy Robin Gonzalez claimed Prieto sexually harassed her over several years, but U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller said she found holes in the complaint that would not allow her to let the matter go forward as viable litigation.

In the lawsuit, filed in July 2013, Gonzalez described incidents she said occurred before March 2012, and thus fell outside the legally mandated limitations period, Muller ruled.

The facts show that “the pre-2012 conduct was not part of the same continuing practice as the post-2012 conduct,” Mueller wrote. “After March 2012, within the limitations period, only a few allegations remain,” the judge said in a 19-page order filed Friday.

Sac Bee, 7/20/15

 

Sacramento Jury Awards Former San Joaquin County DA Investigator $2 Million On Retaliation Claim

"A jury in Sacramento federal court has awarded a former investigator at the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office more than $2 million after finding she was subjected to retaliation for complaining about gender discrimination in the office."  Sacramento Bee, 4/2/14

EEOC Sues Madera Companies Over Retaliatory Firings

On Wednesday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued Madera-based Z Foods and Zoria Farms for firing workers in retailiation for reporting ongoing sexual harassment.  Fresno Bee, 9/25/13

Female Deputy's Suit Accuses Yolo Sheriff Of Sex Harassment

A veteran female sheriff's deputy in Yolo County is accusing longtime Sheriff Ed Prieto of subjecting her to protracted sexual harassment, culminating in his offer to trade an assignment for oral sex.

Robin Gonzalez claims in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that the blatant conduct has continued for almost her entire 11 years under Prieto's command.

Sacramento Bee, 7/11/13

Firefighter Files Suit Against Sacramento Metro Fire District

A firefighter at the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District has sued the district, claiming she was "involuntarily retired" without pay and, after being allowed to return to work, she was placed on light duty for no legitimate reason and subjected to retaliation when she sought help from federal officials.

After the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission launched an investigation into Shannon Baker's case, and after a change in the district's leadership, Baker returned to work Feb. 7, 2011.

However, she was told she could not resume her duties as a firefighter until she went five years without an epilepsy seizure, according to a lawsuit filed this week on her behalf in Sacramento federal court by attorney Stewart Katz.

Sacramento Bee, 12/6/12

Sacramento Jury Awards $167 Million Against Mercy General In Sexual Harrassment Action

A jury in Sacramento federal court on Wednesday awarded more than $167 million to a former surgical physician's assistant at Mercy General Hospital on her claims of workplace harassment and retaliation that led to her wrongful termination.

The panel assessed Mercy and its parent, Catholic Healthcare West, $125 million in punitive damages as punishment for their "unlawful conduct," and $42.7 million as compensation for lost wages, mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, damage to reputation, and humiliation.

Sacramento Bee, 3/1/12

Sacramento Jury Rejects Student's Claims Against Former Dunsmuir H.S. Principal

Some seven years after a student claimed a Dunsmuir High School principal harassed her and unfairly disciplined her, a federal court jury has rejected her claims.

After a five-day trial, a jury of eight women voted unanimously Tuesday to reject Dayna Padula's claim in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

The jury deliberated 90 minutes before reaching a decision, said Redding attorney John Kelley, who represented the Dunsmuir Joint Union High School District, former superintendent and principal Bob Morris and other district officials.

Redding.com, 8/3/11; see also 7/12 post.

Jury Trial Begins Monday In Suit Alleging Harrassment By Former Dunsmuir H.S. Principal

Nearly six years after they first filed suit, a trial is scheduled next week for the family of a former Dunsmuir High School student who sued the school's superintendent and principal, alleging he harassed and bullied her.

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[Attorney Anthony T.] Caso said the trial, which is to begin next week in Sacramento, will be overseen by federal Judge Morrison C. England Jr.

Redding.com, 7/11/11

Court Denies Qualified Immunity To UCD Officials In Gender Discrimination Suit

A Sacramento federal judge has ruled that four top officials at the University of California, Davis – including the former chancellor and current athletic director – were "deliberately indifferent" to women's "constitutional right to equal treatment in athletics."

U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. denied the four officials' motions for immunity from accusations leveled at them by three former women wrestlers in a civil rights lawsuit that has bedeviled the university for seven years.

Damrell cast aside the officials' claims that they are entitled to qualified immunity "because they did not violate a clearly established constitutional right."

Sacramento Bee, 12/13/10

Second Suit Accuses El Dorado County Sheriff's Office of Sexual Harrassment

"The El Dorado County Sheriff's Office is the target of a lawsuit – the second in two months – claiming that a "boy's club" in the department subjects women to harassment and discrimination.

In the latest suit, filed Friday in U.S. District Court, three civilian employees of the department allege violations of California fair employment and federal civil rights laws.

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Nicole Sahaj-Myers, Stacie Walls and Jona Scher are currently community service officers with between seven to 24 years in the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office.

Sahaj-Myers and Walls allege, among other things, that they were punitively assigned to clean out the men's locker room at the Sheriff's Office, along with male inmates from the jail.  The standard practice, the suit says, is for janitors to clean the facility.

Scher said she was the target of offensive comments from male superiors in the department and was subject to rumors that she was having affairs with some of them.

Her attempts to have the rumors quashed were ignored by superiors, according to the suit.

One of the sheriff's officers named is Capt. Craig Therkildsen, a candidate in November's runoff election for sheriff.

Sacramento Bee, 7/28/10