Two lawyers who served under former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón have tentatively settled lawsuits alleging they faced retaliation and demotions for challenging his progressive policies.
Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami and retired prosecutor Victoria Adams filed conditional settlement documents in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this month. Hatami expects to request dismissal of his case by July 23, while Adams plans to seek a dismissal by Dec. 1, according to court documents.
Terms of the tentative settlements were not disclosed. Hatami and Adams could not immediately be reached for comment. The District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
The suits are among at least two dozen filed by prosecutors who alleged they faced retaliation for defying Gascón and his reform policies. One suit was settled for $800,000, and another led to a jury verdict of $1.5 million.
Hatami gained recognition as one of two prosecutors in the trial of Isauro Aguirre and Pearl Fernandez of Palmdale, who in 2018 were sentenced to death and life in prison without parole, respectively, for the murder and torture of Fernandez’s 8-year-old son, Gabriel.
Gascón, shortly after taking office in December 2020, ordered prosecutors to stop enforcing California’s three-strikes law, prohibited them from seeking the death penalty, and created a review board to hold law enforcement officials more accountable.
Hatami alleged in a 2021 lawsuit that he faced hostile working conditions and retaliation for publicly criticizing Gascón’s policies.
“Gascon has deliberately denied assigning plaintiff to complex child abuse and murder cases within his jurisdiction as punishment for not going along with his directives,” the suit stated. “This, in turn, impacts plaintiff’s work and ability to prove himself for desired promotions.”
Gascón also promoted 15 less experienced deputy district attorneys, but excluded Hatami, despite his “perfect work records, highly positive performance evaluations, and numerous high-profile cases and trials,” the suit alleges.
Gascón alleged in court filings that Hatami failed to “state facts sufficient to constitute claims.”
Hatami challenged Gascon for district attorney last year but finished third in the March 2024 primary behind the incumbent and former federal prosecutor Nathan Hochman, who went on to easily defeat Gascon in the November election. Hatami oversees the Complex Child Abuse Section in the district attorney’s Family Violence Division.
Adams alleged in her lawsuit that she also encountered retaliation for bucking Gascón’s policies.
Adams was demoted from assistant district attorney of special operations to assistant district attorney of special projects.
“Plaintiff went from supervising hundreds of attorneys and other staff in multiple bureaus to supervising one person — a secretary,” the lawsuit states. “Even though the plaintiff holds the title of assistant district attorney of special projects, in reality all but one project assigned to plaintiff are inactive, theoretical or obsolete.”
The lawsuit says Gascón appointed several political supporters to his leadership team as special advisers, causing turmoil in the office.
“There was no management structure or agenda prepared before or during leadership team meetings,” the suit claimed. “Nothing substantive was discussed.”
Beginning in early 2021, Adams began complaining to Gascón that one of his directives effectively eliminated the ability of prosecutors to charge juveniles with some crimes, no matter how violent the offense, and that it violated local, state and federal laws, the lawsuit alleged.
Adams also reportedly told Gascón that prosecutors were refusing to comply with the directive, but he refused to take action against them.
Another conflict arose in early 2021, when Gascón announced the hiring of criminal defense attorney Lawrence Middleton to investigate officer-involved shooting cases that his predecessor, former District Attorney Jackie Lacey, had declined to prosecute.
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Adams informed then-interim Chief Deputy Joseph Iniguez that Middleton’s contract violated state, county and federal laws regarding conflict of interest, corruption, waste, cronyism and mismanagement of public funds.
Adams allegedly was ordered into a meeting with Gascón and Iniguez, where she was told not to concern herself with Middleton’s operation and to give him “whatever he wanted.”
City News Service contributed to this report.
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