A judge Monday took under submission allegations by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s sergeant who contends her career advancements were stymied because a recruit the deputy found to be physically unfit for hiring was a friend of then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s spouse.
On Monday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Judge Cherol J. Nellon heard arguments on a motion by county lawyers to dismiss plaintiff Sgt. Lina Pimentel’s lawsuit. The defense attorneys maintain that Pimentel never suffered a negative employment action.
The judge did not immediately rule and took the case under submission.
The suit’s allegations include harassment claim, retaliation, discrimination and failure to prevent harassment, discrimination or retaliation. Pimentel says she was hired in January 2007, served as a patrol deputy and in August 2019 and was given a highly regarded recruit training officer job at the Sheriff’s Academy. She later took part in the decision to dismiss recruit Natalie Garcia, a longtime LASD custody assistant and close friend of Vivian Villanueva, the spouse of the ex-sheriff, the suit states.
In retaliation for plaintiff dismissing her friend as unqualified, Vivian Villanueva made threats at Pimentel’s workplace, called her two obscene names reserved for females and warned others to keep Pimentel away from her because, “I will go off on that (epithet),” the suit states.
In a sworn declaration, Pimentel contends that although she had no direct interactions with Vivian Villanueva about Garcia, the then-sheriff’s wife’s alleged harassment, retaliation and use of slurs were done with the intent to impact the plaintiff’s ability to do her job as a drill instructor, which is viewed as a coveted position in the department.
Pimentel further says her promotion to sergeant in February 2022 occurred only after she filed her lawsuit a month earlier.
According to Pimentel’s lawyers’ court papers, common department knowledge at the time showed that Vivian Villanueva approved and disapproved of employee hirings and promotions within the LASD and that department executives saw the then-sheriff take photos of promotion and transfer lists and send them to his wife for consideration.
One executive saw names ordered removed from the lists and denied deserving promotions at Vivian Villanueva’s direction in retaliation against whistleblowers, Pimentel’s lawyers further state in their court papers.
Garcia, a longtime LASD custody assistant, was making her second attempt to complete the academy, but Pimentel, Garcia’s drill instructor, determined that she was physically unable to complete the course, the suit states.
Pimentel’s upward advancement has been “effectively terminated” because of Vivian Villanueva’s personal attacks on her, according to the suit.
County lawyers maintain in their court papers that the county cannot be held liable for the actions of a non-employee like Vivian Villanueva, who retired from the LASD in 2018, before Pimentel’s training assignment began. The attorneys also maintain that Pimentel did not suffer a negative employment action.
“If every minor change in working conditions or trivial action were a materially adverse action, then any action that an irritable, chip-on-the-shoulder employee did not like would form the basis of a discrimination suit,” county attorneys maintain in their pleadings.
Vivian Villanueva was dismissed as a defendant in Pimentel’s suit in July 2022. Alex Villanueva was defeated for re-election in November 2022 by retired Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna. He is now running for the seat held by Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn.