Another Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney has tentatively settled a lawsuit he filed against the county stemming from a backlash he alleges he suffered for being an outspoken critic of former District Attorney George Gascón.
Deputy District Attorney Jon Hatami was one of the first to sue over Gascón’s reform directives. His Los Angeles Superior Court suit, filed in September 2021 and amended in May 2022, included allegations of harassment, defamation, retaliation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and race discrimination.
Hatami’s attorneys filed court papers on April 9 notifying Judge Doreen B. Boxer of a “conditional” resolution of the case with the expectation a request for dismissal will be brought by July 23. No terms were divulged.
In their previous court papers, county attorneys denied Hatami’s allegations and cited multiple defenses, including violation of the statute of limitations.
When Gascón was sworn into office in December 2020, he promised to stop enforcing California’s three-strikes law, end use of the death penalty and create a review board to hold law enforcement officials more accountable. When Hatami continued to be critical of Gascón’s changes, the alleged hostile work and retaliation toward him continued, according to his suit.
Hatami alleged he was defamed and denied promotions because he criticized Gascón’s directives. He also contended in the amended complaint that he was harassed and discriminated against because of his heritage, his religion and his complaints. Hatami is part Iranian and his father is Muslim.
Instead of putting a stop to the alleged disparate treatment, Gascón’s office ratified it by refusing to promote him, the amended suit alleged.
“Gascón maliciously embarrassed plaintiff by calling him an `internal terrorist,’ refused to promote him and disparately removed or failed to assign plaintiff cases that would typically be designated within his jurisdiction,” the amended suit alleged.
Among the cases Hatami was assigned was that of Jose Cuatro and Maria Juarez, a Palmdale couple charged with murder and torture in the death of their 4-year-old son, Noah. He also was one of two prosecutors in the trial of Isauro Aguirre and Pearl Fernandez, who were sentenced to death and life in prison without parole, respectively, for her 8-year-old son Gabriel’s death.
When Gascón was sworn in December 2020, he promised to stop enforcing California’s three-strikes law, end use of the death penalty and create a review board to hold law enforcement officials more accountable. When Hatami criticized Gascón’s changes, he found himself in a hostile work environment, according to his amended complaint.
In November 2020, Gascón said in an interview on Spectrum News 1 the only reason the plaintiff sought the death penalty in the Gabriel Fernandez child abuse and death case was because his ego had been hurt by Aguirre, that Aguirre had rubbed Hatami the wrong way, that Aguirre was not the “heavy” in the case and that Aguirre had refused Hatami’s plea deal, according to the revised suit.
The comments were “knowingly false” and were meant to damage Hatami’s reputation and fitness to carry out his duties, according to the amended suit.
Assistant District Attorney Victoria Adams and Deputy District Attorney Isidora Baly, Michael Matoba, Maria Ramirez and Victor Rodriguez are among other Gascón-era prosecutors to have also reached tentative settlements in their suits against the county.