A former longtime aide to Los Angeles Metropolis Councilmember Curren Value alleges in a declare filed in opposition to town that she was fired from her job after Value staffers accused her of being a “snitch” within the prison case introduced in opposition to the councilman by L.A. County Dist. Atty. George Gascón.
Angie Reyes English, a former senior subject deputy for Value, filed the declare on Feb 1. Such claims are sometimes lodged earlier than a proper lawsuit.
The four-page declare, which was reviewed by The Occasions, alleges that Reyes English confronted intimidation by Value and his crew and was ultimately dismissed from her job in January.
Angelina Valencia-Dumarot, a Value spokesperson, denied the previous staffer’s allegations. The truth is, Reyes English had been the topic of complaints from Value’s employees, Valencia-Dumarot mentioned.
“We deny these baseless allegations and have been working intently with [the city’s Personnel Department] on this matter for months,” Valencia-Dumarot mentioned in a press release. “Final 12 months, a number of district workplace employees members lodged separate formal complaints [with the Personnel Department] citing Angie Reyes English’s harassing and threatening conduct, which brought on some to change into anxious and depressed.”
Legal professional Greg Smith, who represents Reyes English, mentioned his shopper is “unaware of any complaints, and has by no means been notified of any complaints, formal or casual, in opposition to her.”
Reyes English serves in Hawthorne as mayor professional tem and a Metropolis Council member, in response to that metropolis’s web site. She declined an interview request.
She labored for Value for 17 years, in response to her grievance. Value, a Democrat, beforehand served within the state Senate and Meeting.
Ivor Pine, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Metropolis Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto, declined to touch upon the declare.
Gascón charged Value in June 2023 with 10 counts of embezzlement, perjury and battle of curiosity. The fees relate to medical advantages that his spouse, Del Richardson Value, obtained from town and votes that the councilman solid that allegedly benefited his spouse’s enterprise.
Value has vigorously denied the costs.
Reyes English’s declare alleges that just about two weeks after the district lawyer’s workplace filed its case in opposition to Value, the councilman’s “right-hand man,” Jose Ugarte — a deputy chief of employees — known as Reyes English and advised her that he and different Value confidants believed she was a “whistleblower” and had disclosed data to “authorities companies.”
The following day, Reyes English advised her supervisors and human sources representatives that she had been “intimidated” by those that thought she was the “snitch,” in response to her declare.
Value and others “retaliated” in opposition to Reyes English, in response to her declare. She was positioned on “involuntary medical depart” for about 3½ months beginning July 1, 2023.
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When she returned to work, she mentioned, “extra actions have been taken to intimidate, harass, and hurt” her. She was terminated from her job on Jan. 9, in response to the declare.
The district lawyer’s workplace didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark about her declare.
Value is due again in courtroom in early March. Final month, a Los Angeles County Superior Courtroom decide denied a request from Value’s protection crew to throw out the case in opposition to him on the grounds that the prosecution had didn’t show Value’s votes have been motivated by his spouse’s enterprise dealings.
Value’s protection lawyer, Michael Schafler, had additionally argued that prosecutors inappropriately filed embezzlement costs when Value’s alleged conduct associated to his spouse’s medical health insurance didn’t meet the definition of the crime underneath California regulation.
Occasions employees author James Queally contributed to this report.
