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Deputy Files Retaliation Lawsuit Against District Attorney George Gascón
By a MetNews Staff Writer
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—AP In this 2023 file photo, Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón speaks during a news conference. |
Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Shea Sanna yesterday filed a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit against the county and District Attorney George Gascón in Los Angeles Superior Court. Sanna alleges that he was targeted for exposing misconduct within the prosecutorial office under Gascón’s leadership.
The complaint alleges that Sanna began to receive unfavorable treatment following his handling of the high-profile case against Hannah Tubbs, a transgender woman who was previously known as James Tubbs. Tubbs was arrested and charged with sexual assault relating to the grabbing of a 10-year-old girl in the bathroom of a Palmdale Denny’s restaurant on Jan. 1, 2014.
The incident took place a few days before Tubbs’ 18th birthday. Tubbs was identified as a suspect through DNA in 2019 after being arrested on battery charges in Idaho.
According to Sanna, his hands were tied in not requesting that the matter be transferred to adult criminal court by a Gascón policy which prevents deputies from filing transfer motions regardless of aggravating circumstances.
Jail Recordings
Sanna alleges that recordings of jail calls between Tubbs and her father, which later became public, suggest that Tubbs planned to claim to be transgender to obtain favorable housing in a woman’s juvenile facility. Sanna says that supervisors pressured him to refrain from presenting the recordings to the court.
Tubbs pled guilty and was sentenced to two years in a female juvenile facility by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mario Barrera on Jan. 27, 2022. Tubbs was 25 years old at the time.
After the hearing, Sanna decried the result to the press, saying:
“You have a violent sexual predator sentenced to two years in a juvenile facility. It doesn’t change the fact that the public is safer, but we just preferred Tubbs to be with other adults and not prey on others.”
Following the sentencing, Sanna sent an email with the jail recordings attached to members of Tubbs’ rehabilitation team on Jan. 31, 2022. He was removed from the case the next day.
The complaint asserts that directing Sanna to withhold the calls from the court violated a “host of prosecutorial and ethical obligations,” including Government Code §26540 which prohibits a district attorney from assisting in the defense of a person accused of a crime and State Bar Rule 3.3 which requires candor by attorneys.
Retaliatory Actions
The lawsuit further alleges a pattern of misconduct within the District Attorney’s Office, including the suppression of evidence and the release of confidential records. Sanna contends that his efforts to report these violations were met with retaliatory actions by Gascón’s administration.
Sanna claims that he was demoted and transferred to the Santa Clarita office on October 2, 2023—while he was in the middle of handling a home invasion murder trial at a different courthouse—and had his pay reduced.
He also cites the office’s failure to promote him despite receiving only “exceeds expectations” on evaluations by his supervisors and a perfect score on a promotional exam, while less senior deputies were elevated in the office.
Sanna asserts a whistleblower retaliation claim under Labor Code § 1102.5 and an intentional infliction of emotional damage cause of action.
In a press release announcing the initiation of the suit on Tuesday, Sanna said:
“For the past two years, Gascón has tried to silence me. He has suspended me without pay, threatened my livelihood, attacked my credibility, tarnished my reputation, demoted me, investigated me, and harassed me, all so I would obey him; so I would stay quiet; so I wouldn’t speak up on behalf of those most affected by his misguided political policies.”
The complaint avers that “Sanna is far from the only casualty of Gascón’s vindictive regime” and lists other employees who have accused the head prosecutor of retaliation, including Shawn Randolph—the former head of the juvenile division who prevailed in her action against Gascón in March 2023 and was awarded $1.5 million in damages.
Sanna is represented by Anthony J. Fusaro, John-Paul S. Deol, and Jess Franklin-Murdock of the Dhillon Law Group Inc.
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