A judge has given a former coroner’s office investigator the option of accepting a reduction of a jury’s award of $8.4 million in her whistleblower suit against Los Angeles County — in which she said she was forced into early retirement in 2017 in retaliation for raising suspicions about the death of an 8-year-old disabled boy — to $3 million, or face a new trial on damages.
In a series of rulings Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert S. Draper denied a motion by county lawyers to grant a retrial of plaintiff Denise Bertone’s entire case as well as their motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
However the judge did find that the amount of damages given Bertone was excessive and he gave her until the end of August to decide which choice to make.
On Dec. 17, a jury deliberated for less than a day before finding in favor of Bertone, who also is a registered nurse. She was hired in 2002 and for years investigated the deaths of infants and children, according to her lawsuit filed in November 2018.
Lawyers for the county denied that Bertone was subjected to retaliation and argued that all actions taken regarding her employment were for legitimate, non-discriminatory reasons. They maintained she suffered no damages or harm.
According to the suit, the coroner’s office received a case in 2013 involving the death of an 8-year-old disabled boy named Cole who was in a coma after being found head-first and submerged in water and clothing in a top-loader washing...
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