Allen Castellano, a commander with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, has filed a lawsuit against his department and the county for retaliating against a whistleblower.
"LASD has held itself out as above the law and immune to accountability, with leadership operating with the lack of transparency and audacity of a third world dictatorship and evading any oversight," Castellano's attorneys stated in the lawsuit. "While past sheriffs have retaliated against whistleblowers, Villanueva has taken vindictiveness, revenge, and retaliation to a whole other level and Villanueva's misconduct has led to approximately two dozen ongoing whistleblower lawsuits against the County."
In the lawsuit, Castellano's attorneys claim that the department "has long been plagued by a history of corruption and whistleblower retaliation" and specifically singled out instances during Sheriff Alex Villanueva's tenure.
"Villanueva brought a thirst for revenge into office and began plotting retaliation against whistleblowers and those reporting allegations of his misconduct before he even officially became sheriff in December 2018," the attorneys wrote.
Castellano claims that Villanueva has been "out for revenge" since 2018 when he began his tenure as sheriff. Castellano claims that he has not received a promotion, as a result of trying to hold the sheriff "accountable and blowing the whistle" on Villanueva.
"In addition, Villanueva pressured [Castellano] to 'volunteer' to self-demote two ranks...
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