A retired high-ranking Orange County prosecutor was retaliated against and essentially forced into retirement by District Attorney Todd Spitzer for her whistleblower efforts in a sexual harassment case, her attorney contended Monday, but a lawyer for Spitzer and the county said the D.A. had no idea the plaintiff was going to leave her job, nor did he want her to leave.
Opening statements and witness testimony began Monday in the trial stemming from a lawsuit filed by Tracy Miller, a 25-year veteran of the office, including three years as a senior assistant district attorney when she left. The trial is being held in San Diego due to the involvement of two Orange County Superior Court judges in the litigation.
Miller alleged in her lawsuit that Spitzer forced her to retire by “creating a hostile work environment” after she attempted to protect younger prosecutors in the office who had reported being sexually harassed by another prosecutor, Gary LoGalbo. LoGalbo, who was best man at Spitzer’s wedding, died before lawsuits over the alleged harassment went to trial.
One of Miller’s attorneys, John Barnett, told a San Diego jury that when the allegations against LoGalbo surfaced, Spitzer was aware that his office “was in deep trouble,” particularly because he had held himself out as an advocate for sex abuse victims.
“It’s a very bad look for a prosecutor whose brand is protecting victims of sexual abuse,” Barnett said. “It’s a very bad look because it started to look like he can’t even protect the members of his own office from sexual harassment.”
Barnett said that while publicly an investigation was launched into the allegations, internally, Spitzer sought to discredit the woman who initially accused LoGalbo, Barnett told jurors.
When Miller advocated on behalf of the woman and other victims who later came forward, she was punished with threats to her career and the dismantling of programs she’d created within the District Attorney’s Office, according to Barnett, who alleged Miller also faced “gender-based slurs” during that time.
“The cumulative effect of all of those things forced her resignation,” Barnett said.
Miller’s lawsuit also alleges Spitzer attempted to block her from reporting his conduct in two death penalty cases that spurred scandals for what some considered racially charged comments in one of the cases and his intervention in a mass shooting case to dismiss a criminal complaint against the father of one of the victims.
The lawsuit also alleges county officials failed to stop the harassment and allowed “the victim shaming to run freely for all to witness.”
Along with Orange County and Spitzer, Orange County Superior Court Judge Shawn Nelson, a former Orange County supervisor who worked as chief assistant district attorney, is also named as a defendant.
Miller claims the men routinely berated her during meetings.
“On one occasion, Spitzer yelled at Miller for over five minutes because the attorney general was hosting a meeting about an opioid case filed by the OCDA,” the lawsuit alleged. “Spitzer, on account of Miller’s gender, blamed her because he was upset at the attorney general. Spitzer stated that Miller was not cutting it as (an executive) and she should simply take his abuse and not defend herself against Spitzer. Spitzer’s actions brought Miller to tears in the presence of her subordinate.”
Another time in May of 2020, Spitzer and Nelson “yelled at Miller for over 10 minutes during an executive meeting because Miller allegedly did not put enough information in the subject line of an email,” the lawsuit alleged.
The lawsuit also alleged that Spitzer told Miller, “Men and women speak different languages, Tracy. We don’t understand each other.”
And when Miller raised issues about LoGalbo to Nelson, he defended LoGalbo, the lawsuit alleged.
When Miller filed a legal claim against her ex-boss, Spitzer responded by alleging Miller teamed up with fired prosecutor, Brahim Baytieh, who is now an Orange County Superior Court judge, to smear Spitzer as he ran for reelection.
“It is blatantly obvious that going into my reelection that both Baytieh and Miller coordinated efforts to embarrass me and deter me from my efforts to reverse the ‘win at all costs’ mentality which involved violating the constitutional rights of defendants by cheating and failing to discover evidence to the defense,” Spitzer said in a statement.
Spitzer accused Miller and Baytieh of being “indoctrinated by a 20-year prior administration that taught you how to cheat, seek revenge and eviscerate your enemies.”
Attorney Tracey Kennedy, who represents the defendants, denied any retaliation took place or that they sought to have Miller leave the office.
Kennedy said Miller was a respected and well-regarded prosecutor and that rather than seeking her exit, both Spitzer and Nelson “relied on Ms. Miller for her guidance” in various matters. Kennedy said that during her time at the D.A’s Office, Miller never reported facing gender-based mistreatment, even though she could have reported those claims anonymously.
While conceding that LoGalbo was Spitzer’s best man in 1996, the attorney said the men’s paths diverged and their relationship wasn’t such that Spitzer would protect LoGalbo “at the expense of the Orange County D.A.’s Office or at the expense of his career.”
Regarding LoGalbo’s initial accuser, Kennedy said Spitzer had concerns about her truthfulness in some of her work communications, but had no concerns or doubts regarding the allegations she levied against LoGalbo.
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