Jury rules that former OC prosecutor was forced to retire due to harassment

The San Diego County Superior Court in downtown San Diego File photo by Chris Stone A jury in San Diego County Thursday exposed that a former high-ranking Orange County prosecutor was forced to retire due to harassment from District Attorney Todd Spitzer and his top assistant Shawn Nelson who is now a Superior Court judge Tracy Miller sued Orange County Spitzer and Nelson in a whistleblower retaliation and harassment lawsuit after she retired following years in the office The jury awarded Miller million in economic damages and will now turn to determining if any punitive damages will be assessed against Spitzer The jury detected that Nelson did not act with malice The jury also discovered that the county failed to stop the harassment The occurrence was moved to San Diego County because of Spitzer s status as Orange County s top prosecutor and Nelson s position on the Orange County bench Another key witness in the trial was Orange County Superior Court Judge Chris Duff and various of the evidence involved Orange County Superior Court Judge Ebrahim Baytieh Seven of the verdicts were unanimous nine were - five were - and two were - on the questions of harassment and retaliation On damages the votes were mostly - Miller had reached the highest level of executive as a senior assistant district attorney for three years before she left the office She alleged in her lawsuit that Spitzer and Nelson forced her to retire by creating a hostile work conditions after she moved to shield younger prosecutors in the office who had broadcasted being sexually harassed by another prosecutor Gary LoGalbo who was best man at Spitzer s wedding and who retired during the harassment review and died before the incident went to trial Miller s attorney Bijan Darvish accused Nelson during closing arguments on Tuesday of falsely testifying that Miller was a liar who made up her assertions When Miller complained about Nelson Spitzer did nothing about it Darvish argued Darvish pointed to testimony from retired prosecutor Beth Costello who acknowledged she wrote a scathing letter about Spitzer showing a private social media page video of her engaging in pole fitness when he was an Orange County supervisor running for voting process as district attorney to criticize his predecessor s management of the office Costello however testified that she had a rapprochement with Spitzer after he was elected and revealed she felt he had a big heart now Beth Costello was another of his sufferers that s why she wrote that letter Darvish argued And he didn t dispute a single fact He did not dispute to harassing Beth Costello Darvish also commented Spitzer and Nelson would refer to the women managers as babysitters for rookie prosecutors in the branch courts They say the women babysit and the men manage Darvish commented Darvish pointed to testimony from Assistant District Attorney Susan Price who identified the belittling incredibly offensive Price however testified that since her sons were babysitters she did not feel it was meant to be a sexist comment though she unveiled it offensive Darvish also noted how Miller was notified that in executive meetings with the other top prosecutors she was not allowed to speak without permission Darvish also noted how when a county-hired attorney issued a analysis on the sexual harassment accusations against LoGalbo Spitzer sent it to everyone in the office which essentially outed Miller and other accusers There s only one reason to send that out to continue the harassment of the sufferers Darvish argued A follow-up account from the outside counsel concluded that Spitzer had violated county guidelines by sending out the document Darvish also accused Spitzer of threatening to remove Miller as head of an anti-gang initiative for youths that she founded or to diminish it It was done to drive Tracy out Darvish argued One of Miller s friends in the office testified that she looked unhealthy upset from the stress Darvish argued Attorney Tracey Kennedy who represents the county argued that employees like Miller were at will workers meaning they could have been fired at any time when Spitzer took office But instead of firing her she was promoted Kennedy stated Spitzer never disciplined Miller in any way Kennedy argued She explained there was no documentation that Spitzer and Nelson craved to get rid of Miller Kennedy also downplayed Miller s role in helping prosecutor Clarisse Magtoto when she broadcasted assertions of harassment against LoGalbo Orange County Superior Court Judge Chris Duff was in management as a prosecutor when Spitzer appealed him to write up Magtoto for being untruthful Duff testified Duff who was later elected judge noted he resisted the order because he was advised not to by county human support agents and because he felt it was potentially illegal No one appealed why Spitzer was concerned about her honesty Kennedy argued Kennedy argued Duff and Miller jumped to a conclusion that it was about LoGalbo Something has to happen before you can sue for harassment Kennedy argued You can t sue because you fear something will happen Kennedy denied that Spitzer moved to reduce the anti-gang initiative to punish Miller She reported they had issues funding the venture There s no evidence he took any efforts to dismantle the operation Kennedy commented Nothing happened to her Kennedy argued She was not retaliated against Miller did not like Todd or Shawn from the start Kennedy explained It was a changing of the guard Darvish argued in his rebuttal that Duff was retaliated against and the defense ignored that No one demanded why Spitzer was upset with Magtoto because it was absurd that he demanded to write her up Darvish argued Whenever Spitzer got bad headlines He blamed Tracy Miller He blamed everybody else Darvish argued He even tried to blame a judge who ascertained Spitzer had violated the Racial Justice Act when mulling the death penalty in one affair Darvish argued Spitzer was also angry with Miller for blowing the whistle on Spitzer s meeting with the father of a victim of a mass shooting in Orange who had been facing his own criminal episode Darvish argued Spitzer was criticized for suggesting leniency for the defendant I ask that you hold them accountable Darvish disclosed This is your chance to hold elected leaders to a higher standard