A Los Angeles County prosecutor who along with a former colleague maintain they were wrongfully demoted after the election of District Attorney Nathan Hochman due to their support of the re-sentencing of the Menendez brothers received a mixed ruling in her lawsuit against the county and Hochman Friday.
The Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit was filed in April 2025 by former Deputy District Attorney Nancy Theberge, the same day another prosecutor, Brock Lunsford, filed a similar complaint as both felt they were wrongfully demoted.
On Tuesday, Judge Wendy Chang heard challenges by the county and Hochman to Theberge’s case, then took the case under submission and issued a final ruling on Friday.
The judge overruled the county’s challenge to one of Theberge’s claims for violation of the state Labor Code, in which the plaintiff alleges she was retaliated against for her support of former District Attorney George Gascón.
However, Chang said Theberge will have to shore up her causes of action for defamation, compelled self-defamation, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring, supervision and retention.
As to Hochman, Theberge will have to bolster her claims against him for age and gender harassment as well as intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, according to the judge.
In her ruling, the judge noted the lawsuit alleges Theberge was demoted and subjected to a campaign of retaliation, harassment and reputational harm because of his association with 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 her political affiliation,” Chang wrote in overruling the county’s challenge to the Labor Code claim.
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 in December 2024, 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, like Theberge’s case, 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.