A lawsuit by a former senior field deputy to City Councilman Curren Price, in which she claims she was wrongfully fired in 2024 for being a whistleblower, can move forward, a judge has ruled.
The City Attorney’s Office had maintained that Angie Reyes-English’s case should be tossed out because she was terminated for legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons. But on Wednesday, Judge William E. Weinberger denied the motion, finding there are triable issues.
Reyes-English maintains she was considered a “snitch” who gave prosecutors information about the councilman and alleged pay-for-play schemes. The City Attorney’s Office countered that an internal investigation revealed that the plaintiff created a hostile work environment, culminating in her berating her direct supervisor, James Westbrooks.
“The court finds that through that evidence, plaintiff has shown at a minimum that there are disputed (material facts) as to the city’s alleged belief that plaintiff had informed the District Attorney’s office about Price’s alleged criminal activities and that this belief was a contributing factor in plaintiff’s termination,” the judge wrote.
In addition, the fact that the alleged complaints of plaintiff’s bullying, racial remarks and hostility toward Westbrooks and creation of a hostile work environment were raised after plaintiff’s whistleblower retaliation claims and used as a reason for termination during the city’s investigation of the retaliation claims raises disputed issues as to...
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