Orange County Destoy. According to a ruling Thursday, Todd Spitzer raised concerns about his conduct and retaliated after being harassed and retaliated against a high-ranking female prosecutor in his office after attempting to protect other prosecutors who were sexually harassed by another boss.
After hearing the lawsuit to avoid potential disputes in San Diego County, a ju judge discovered that Spitzer had acted “maliciously” against Tracy Miller, the highest-ranking woman in the prosecutor’s office.
The ju apprentice also discovered that the county had not taken reasonable steps to prevent workplace harassment and implemented “adverse employment measures” against Miller.
“Tracy Miller had the instinct to resist the county’s most powerful law enforcement agency, but she won,” Miller’s lawyer John Burnett said after the verdict was read Thursday. “It takes a lot of courage and the ju-degrees saw that she was right.”
The county declined to comment on the verdict, and requests for comment from Spitzer’s office were not immediately returned Thursday.
The ry judge found that the county, Spitzer and Nelson are liable for $3 million in damages, including $1.5 million for past emotional distress. The ju apprentice had yet to reach a verdict on punitive damages and was expected to hear more debate Thursday afternoon.
Unlike criminal trials, civil trials in California do not require unanimous verdicts. In this civil case, the ju apprentice’s decision ranged from 12-0 to 9-3 for various claims upheld against the defendant. The ju umpire voted 10-2 to grant punitive damages against Spitzer.
Miller sued Orange County, Spitzer, and former Chief Assistant Distress. Atty. Sean Nelson kicked out Miller after they condemned retaliation and opposed Spitzer’s actions while leading the office. Miller allegedly tried to prevent female prosecutors from being retaliated after alleging that she was sexually harassed by former supervisor Gary Rogalbo, who is also a friend of Spitzer.
The former and current prosecutors at the office described the “challenging” and “demanding” environment within the prosecutor’s office, but said some people faced the threat of being fired or demoted.
In her testimony, Miller said Spitzer and Nelson used “gender-based slur” to disregard her and undermine her authority in the office.
According to her lawsuit, Miller raised concerns that Spitzer violated the Race Justice Act by raising questions about race while determining whether he would seek the death penalty against a black defendant, and Spitzer used race in his case assignment.
Miller told court that Spitzer threatened to fire her close friends in the office and dismantled the program that spearheaded the retaliation.
But much of the trial centered on what happened shortly after several female prosecutors allegedly sexually harassed by former police officers and Rogarbo, the best man at Spitzer’s wedding.
When an internal county investigation confirmed that the woman was harassed, the report identified Miller and her testimony by explaining her position and gender. Miller then testified, and Spitzer targeted her and criticized her for writing notes during the executive meeting.
“Every time a subject appeared, Tracy would take notes about our meeting,” Spitzer testified. “There was a point when it was very interested in me. Why do you seem to commemorate everything we do?”
Spitzer, who testified multiple days during his trial, denied the charges. He acknowledged deep tensions within the DA’s office after taking on the role in 2018, but thought he was against an employee who supported former district attorney Tony Laccaca.
“I knew it would be miserable, and it was miserable,” Spitzer said in his testimony, clearing tears at one point.
He said that when he first took office, he was part of why he chose Shaun Nelson, now the county Superior Court Judge.
“I chose him because I’m going to fight in the Lions’ nest,” Spitzer said.
However, Miller testified that Nelson’s actions also raised the issue with the District Attorney’s Office after allegations of sexual harassment were made. For example, Prosuctors testified that during a manager’s sexual harassment training session, Nelson stood up and said “no victims.”
The county still faces eight sexual harassment lawsuits, including allegations filed against Rogarbo.
“It’s very important for the public to know what happened,” Burnett said. “We were strong in our case and we were sure we were right.”
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