A state choose has thrown out a lawsuit filed by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva that alleged the county defamed him, violated his rights and unfairly flagged his personnel file with a “don’t rehire” tag.
In a 26-page order, Superior Court docket Decide Gary D. Roberts on Wednesday granted a request by the county to reject the lawsuit underneath California’s Anti-SLAPP legislation, writing that Villanueva’s claims lack “minimal benefit.”
The case’s dismissal is “a significant victory,” in keeping with Jason Tokoro, an legal professional for the county.
“We’re happy that the Court docket agreed with the County that former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s claims are barred by California’s anti-SLAPP statute and had no benefit,” he wrote in an emailed assertion Thursday. “The County can now shut this chapter.”
The choice marks the third time a courtroom has dismissed Villanueva’s assertions that the county had handled him unfairly and induced him to endure “humiliation, extreme emotional misery, psychological and bodily ache and anguish, and compensatory damages.”
The criticism in Villanueva’s lawsuit filed in June stated it was an “try to clear his identify, vindicate his status, and be made entire for the emotional misery defendants’ actions have induced him.”
Villanueva beforehand tried to sue in federal courtroom. In September 2024, a choose within the Central District of California rejected the previous sheriff’s $25-million federal lawsuit over the allegations, then did so once more in Could after Villanueva refiled the case.
Villanueva didn’t instantly reply to a request for touch upon Thursday. The Sheriff’s Division declined to remark.
The dispute started after Inspector Common Max Hunstman claimed in 2022 that Villanueva engaged in a “racially primarily based assault” by insisting on calling Huntsman by the identify he was given at start, Max-Gustaf. Villanueva additionally described Huntsman as a Holocaust denier, an allegation for which he didn’t present any proof and which the inspector normal has denied.
The county investigated Huntsman’s allegation and slapped the previous sheriff with the “don’t rehire” label. Annually, a county panel recommends dozens of presidency staff be disciplined for a variety of unethical conduct starting from theft to privateness violations by including “don’t rent” or different restrictions to their personnel recordsdata.
In his state lawsuit, Villanueva argued it was unfair for him to be topic to a “don’t rent” designation whereas a number of public officers who had engaged in unlawful conduct averted the tag. Villanueva has maintained that he by no means discriminated in opposition to or harassed anybody.
“The unprecedented resolution by the Board to put Villanueva on a ‘Do Not Rent’ was the results of a defamatory cost of discrimination and harassment,” the previous sheriff wrote within the June criticism.
Across the similar time Huntsman made his allegation, Esther Lim, then-justice deputy for county Supervisor Hilda Solis, made a criticism alleging that Villanueva had a sample of harassing girls of colour throughout livestreams on social media. The allegation additionally prompted an investigation and a “don’t rent” tag, which Villanueva has disputed.
