LA County DA George Gascón found himself on the witness stand defending his actions after an employee says he retaliated against her when she questioned some of his justice reforms. Eric Leonard reports for the NBC4’s I-Team on Feb. 22, 2023.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón testified Wednesday in a civil trial in Downtown LA that he did not single out and order the transfer of a high-ranking supervisor, who claimed in a workplace retaliation lawsuit that she was removed from supervising the agency’s juvenile division because she raised concerns some of Gascón’s justice reform orders could be unethical or unlawful.
“What I’m telling you is that there were 14 people moved. It was a package deal,” Gascón said of his decision in January 2021 to remove Head Deputy Shawn Randolph and reassign her to lead the DA’s parole division.
Gascón testified that two other head deputies, Vicky Adams and Maria Ramirez, had first suggested moving Randolph amid a series of personnel changes made in the first weeks and months of his administration, and told jurors he approved the entire group of transfers together, not just Randolph’s.
Randolph sued because she said the transfer was effectively a demotion that stripped her of a key role in the office and limited future opportunities for advancement, according to her complaint filed in 2021.
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In opening statements Tuesday, an attorney defending LA County and Gascón said Randolph's allegations were unfounded, and told jurors the case was really about Randolph's frustration that she didn't get assigned to a job at a courthouse she'd requested.
"She's just mad," attorney Justin Sanders said. "She wanted Long Beach or Torrance and instead she got parole."
Randolph's main objection to Gascón's policies centered on the directive to reduce the severity of criminal charges filed against juveniles, which Randolph said in her lawsuit forced prosecutors to file alternative charges in court that did not truly reflect the crime in question.
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A 16 or 17-year-old accused of robbery with a gun could not be charged with that crime under Gascón's rules, DA's office chief of staff Joseph F. Iniguez offered as an example during testimony Tuesday.
"You couldn't simply file 211," Iniguez said, referring to the California Penal Code section for robbery.
"You could file an assault, a grand theft person," he suggested. "The policy was to limit strikes against children."
Randolph's lawsuit said those inaccurate filings would force prosecutors to either violate Gascón's policy and risk their job by charging the crime that truly occurred, or to make a dishonest assertion in court by filing inaccurate allegations.
"All these filings would constitute fraud on the court and, among other things, violate Plaintiff's ethical and prosecutorial obligations under the law," the case said.
The testimony at the trial may also be significant for the other DA employees who've sued for workplace retaliation and for an ongoing civil service hearing about whether Gascón violated County rules in making appointments, transfers, and promotions outside the established county hiring process.
Head deputies Adams and Ramirez, who Gascón said had suggested Randolph’s transfer, have since filed their own retaliation lawsuits against Gascón and the county.
