A former aide to a Carson city councilwoman is suing the city, alleging he was fired for complaining about having to run personal errands for the politician in addition to monitoring the politician’s daughter’s activities and those of a council colleague.
Justin Battle’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit alleges a violation of the state Labor Code. Although the suit is targeted at District 4 Councilwoman Arleen Bocatija Rojas’ alleged actions, she is not a defendant. Battle seeks unspecified compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees from the city.
Bocatija Rojas did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the suit brought Wednesday. She is a longtime Los Angeles Police Department member and was its first female Filipino-American officer as well as the city’s second Filipina councilwoman since 1993, according to the city’s website.
Battle was hired in 2019 as a recreation assistant, was promoted in June 2022 to administrative intern and elevated once more in March 2023 to be Bocatija Rojas’ council aide, the suit states. She required him to be available at all times to run personal errands for her, including picking up her daughter from school and keeping a watch on her whereabouts, use a Los Angeles Police Department tool to track the girl’s email and to monitor her phone calls, the suit states.
Battle also was tasked with picking up the councilwoman’s dry cleaning, driving her to events, getting her car serviced, working on her vacation plans, mowing her lawn, getting her food and transporting her sister, according to the suit, which also says Bocatija Rojas told him not to use the office so that other people would not notice that he was doing her personal errands.
Battle also alleges that Bocatija Rojas asked her to spy on District 2 Councilman Jim Dear’s “comings and goings” and that Battle “watch Jim Dear’s girlfriend or wife and inform Bocatija Rojas when she left.”
Battle refused the order regarding Dear and reported the councilwoman’s demand regarding the councilman multiple times to Assistant City Manager Robert Lennox, but “the conduct never stopped,” according to the suit.
Battle, fired last November, believes his termination was related to his complaints about alleged illegal conduct and his refusal to engage in it, the suit states.