A lawyer who says she was demoted for her support of former Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón’s reform policies will have to shore up her claims against the county and the District Attorney’s Office for them to move forward, a judge has ruled.
Tiffiny Blacknell, who is Black, also alleges in the second amended complaint that she was targeted for discriminatory treatment in the District Attorney’s Office because of her age, gender and race.
On Friday, Judge Richard Fruin denied a defense motion to dismiss multiple claims against the defendants, but did say the allegations need more facts to support them. He gave Blacknell a chance to provide the information in a third amended complaint. In his ruling, the judge found issues with Blacknell’s claims for harassment, general and whistleblower retaliation and violation of the state Labor Code.
Addressing the retaliation claims, Fruin said Blacknell offered only “conclusory allegations” without specifics about the content or timing of her complaints.
Without additional details about the nature of her complaints, Fruin said, he cannot presume that Blacknell’s complaints adequately notified the defendants that she was disclosing violations of the law. The judge also said Blacknell’s “protected activity” therefore remains uncertain. A protected activity is an action taken by an employee that is legally shielded from employer retaliation, such as reporting harassment, discrimination or safety violations.
In March, Fruin awarded $53,030 in attorneys’ fees to John Lewin, a prosecutor in the same office who was a defendant in the initial case and was sued for defamation along with the District Attorney’s Office and current District Attorney Nathan Hochman. Blacknell dismissed the part of the case against Lewin after Lewin won an anti-SLAPP motion.
The District Attorney’s Office and Hochman also won their anti-SLAPP motions and were previously awarded $40,530 and $12,500, respectively. The state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) statute is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
Blacknell, 49, is a former deputy public defender who was hired by the county in 2002. Her revised suit states that her transfer to the District Attorney’s Office by Gascón and her filling of various roles there, including chief of staff, “placed her in the crosshairs for attack” by those who opposed Gascón’s attempts to make changes that generally favored criminal defendants.
“Blacknell quickly became the target of intense and unfounded attacks from within the prosecutor’s office that came from the mainstream as well as the social media, ranging from the mundane to outright threats,” her attorneys wrote.
“In particular, Ms. Blacknell’s vocal opposition to police brutality and the historic failure of the (District Attorney’s Office) to hold law enforcement accountable for brutality and killings triggered fierce backlash from those that opposed the (agency’s) evolving values under DA Gascón,” the amended complaint states.
Lewin called Blacknell “corrupt,” “crazy,” a “police-hating nut job” and “unqualified” while also contending that “two dogs were more qualified to be a prosecutor,” her original suit alleged. In announcing his campaign, Hochman called Blacknell “the worst chief of staff in Los Angeles County history” and the most “unqualified, pro-criminal chief of staff in Los Angeles County history,” the original suit further contended.
Blacknell suffered a “cardiac event” in October 2024, sought psychiatric treatment, took a leave of absence a month later and was demoted by Hochman to a subordinate position back with the Public Defender’s Office, according to her suit, now scheduled for trial on Dec. 7.