A Los Angeles County prosecutor who along with a former colleague maintain they were wrongfully demoted after the election of current District Attorney Nathan Hochman due to their support of the re-sentencing of the Menendez brothers has received a mixed ruling in his lawsuit against the county.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed in April 2025 by Deputy District Attorney Brock Lunsford, the same day another prosecutor at the time, Nancy Theberge, filed a similar complaint as both felt they were wrongfully demoted.
On Thursday, Judge Wendy Chang overruled the county’s challenge to Lunsford’s claims for violation of the state Labor Code.
In her ruling, the judge noted the lawsuit alleges Lunsford was demoted and subjected to a campaign of retaliation, harassment and reputational harm because of his association with former District Attorney George Gascón, who was defeated by Hochman in November 2024.
“While the complaint does not allege that there was an official policy controlling the political affiliations of employees, the complaint asserts that there was an unofficial policy in that Lunsford was subject to adverse employment actions because of his political affiliation,” Chang wrote in overruling the county’s challenge to the Labor Code claims.
The judge did rule, however, that Lunsford’s claims of both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, as well as negligent hiring, supervision and retention, will have to be shored up for those causes of action to remain in the lawsuit.
Theberge said she believed that re-sentencing Lyle and Erik Menendez was required by law and that it would be unlawful to not bring such a motion. However, after Gascón lost and Hochman took office, he removed both Theberge and Lunsford from the case and both were demoted almost immediately, according to her suit.
Theberge, a unit leader, was transferred out of the District Attorney’s Office entirely and reassigned to the Alternate Public Defender’s Office, which her complaint describes as a “clear punitive move.”
Lunsford, a 25-year veteran, was stripped of his supervisory duties and reassigned to a low-level calendar deputy position in a remote branch court, according to his suit, which is scheduled for trial Aug. 6, 2027.
In May 2025, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic re-sentenced the Menendez siblings to 50 years to life in prison, replacing their previous terms of life without the possibility of parole and making them eligible for parole.