Attorneys for a former senior aide to City Councilman Curren Price who say she was wrongfully fired for being a whistleblower will ask a judge Wednesday to issue an order regarding a Price staff member, who the plaintiff’s lawyers say has not been produced by the defense for a deposition.
Angie Reyes-English’s Los Angeles Superior Court suit maintains the plaintiff was considered a “snitch” who gave prosecutors information about the councilman and alleged pay-for-play schemes. Reyes-English also is a current Hawthorne city councilwoman.
In court papers filed Tuesday with Judge William Weinberger, Reyes-English’s lawyers allege that defense attorneys have engaged in “egregious game playing” by attempting to preclude the deposition of Jose Ugarte, Price’s deputy chief of staff for community outreach. Ugarte is running to replace Price in District 9 because the incumbent is barred by term limits from seeking another four years in office.
The defense is “entirely to blame for blocking plaintiff from taking Mr. Ugarte’s deposition, which is critical for plaintiff to oppose” an upcoming hearing on the city’s motion to dismiss Reyes-English’s lawsuit, according to Reyes-English’s lawyers’ pleadings.
Price and those closest to him, including Ugarte, believed Reyes-English had disclosed information to prosecutors or other government agencies, according to the suit, which further states that Ugarte told Reyes-English that District 9 employees were angry at her because they believed she had provided information to help prosecute Price.
“Plaintiff reasonably believed that this phone call was designed to intimidate and browbeat her,” according to the suit.
In their dismissal motion, scheduled for hearing April 10, the City Attorney’s Office states that an internal investigation revealed that Reyes-English created a hostile work environment, culminating in her berating her direct supervisor, James Westbrooks.
“(The city) had legitimate grounds to terminate plaintiff … based on her own actions and conduct,” the City Attorney’s Office stated.
According to Reyes-English’s suit, she was hired by the city in July 2013 as a senior field deputy, also known as a council aide, in Price’s council district. She had previously worked for Price for six years when he served in the state Assembly and state Senate.
The District Attorney’s Office charged Price in June 2023 with multiple felony charges of grand theft by embezzlement, conflict of interest and perjury. Prosecutors say Price, now 75, took part in pay-for-play schemes that benefited his wife’s company and were not listed on government financial disclosure forms.
In January, after a six-day preliminary hearing, a Superior Court judge found there was sufficient evidence for the case against Price to go to trial.
Reyes-English emailed her supervisors and human resources personnel that she was being intimidated by those persons who believed she was the “snitch” who helped prosecutors with their case against the councilman, the suit filed in August 2024 states.
But in July 2023, Reyes-English was placed on an involuntary medical leave until Oct. 18 of that year, the suit states. When she returned, she was subjected to more harassment that harmed her reputation, according to the suit, which further alleges that Westbrooks told others to keep an eye on her.
Reyes-English, who believed the alleged harassment violated the state Labor Code, was terminated on Jan. 9, 2024, leaving a “permanent black stain on her previously untarnished work record,” the suit states.
But according to the city’s dismissal motion, not a single relevant decision-maker held the belief that Reyes-English was a whistleblower in any regard or that the plaintiff might blow the whistle on Price.
“Instead, (the city) will show by clear and convincing evidence that plaintiff’s own outrageous conduct toward her supervisor, James Westbrooks, and her creation of a hostile work environment for her co-workers caused her warranted termination,” the City Attorney’s Office further states in its court papers. Westbrooks is currently the District 9 deputy chief of staff and director of district operations.
One witness to the confrontation told an investigator that Reyes-English “rushed” into Westbrooks’ office, closed the door and started yelling, and that her “screams” could be heard from the office restroom, according to the City Attorney’s Office’s court papers.
In a sworn declaration, Westbrooks says Reyes-English was angry because she believed Westbrooks had asked the District 9 security guard to “keep tabs” on the plaintiff when she came and went and that Reyes-English demanded that the guard be fired.
“I tried to resolve these issues with Ms. Reyes-English calmly, but she would not let me get a word in,” Westbrooks says.” I felt threatened by Ms. Reyes-English’s behavior.”