A former aide to a member of the West Hollywood City Council sued the city yesterday, alleging she was fired for her role as a witness in an investigation into a colleague’s allegations of harassment and improper electioneering.
Michelle Rex, formerly a deputy to Councilman John D’Amico, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeking unspecified damages on allegatios of wrongful discharge, retaliation and failure to prevent retaliation.
A representative for Jenkins & Hogin, the law firm that handles legal matters for West Hollywood, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Rex worked as D’Amico’s deputy from March 2011 until she was fired in January, according to her lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Rex gave statements in the probe into allegations by Ian Owens, a former deputy to Councilman John Duran, that he was harassed by his boss. Owens also alleged improper solicitation and electioneering by Councilman John Heilman’s deputy, the suit states.
“Ms. Rex also independently made complaints related to improper solicitation and electioneering,” according to her court papers.
But instead of taking her complaints seriously and implementing a plan to correct the problems, the council and the city administration “decided to try to sweep these major injustices and unlawful activities under the rug,” the suit alleges.
The city fired Rex and Owens “under the guise that such terminations were part of a restructuring of the deputy program,” the suit alleges.
However, the alleged restructuring was never discussed publicly before Owens made his accusations about Heilman’s office, and just he and Rex were affected by the firings because they were the only full-time deputies at the time, according to the complaint.
City officials were “warned time and again” that their actions were “unfair and unlawful” and that they needed to investigate the harassment and electioneering complaints in a “truly independent manner,” the suit alleges.
“Ultimately, they could not be bothered to uphold the city’s professed core values and do the right thing,” the suit says.
Rex routinely worked up to 80 hours a week and she could have transitioned to a senior administrative role for the rest of her career had D’Amico left the council, the suit states.
“Now, Ms. Rex, who once had such a promising career at the city, finds herself out of a job and with an unclear future as a result of the city’s misconduct,” according to her court papers.
Although West Hollywood is touted as a “bastion of civil rights,” the city administration acted in “a shameful manner,” the suit alleges.
Owens also sued the city, alleging harassment and retaliation, and settled out of court, according to Rex’s court papers.
