A former senior field deputy to City Councilman Curren Price can avert a psychological exam by a defense-selected mental health expert if she avoids introducing evidence of her psychological condition at a late summer trial, a judge has ruled.
Angie Reyes-English alleges she was wrongfully fired in 2024 for being a whistleblower. On Wednesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William E. Weinberger held a conference with attorneys in which he told the plaintiff’s lawyer that if by April 21 she files court papers indicating that she will not bring up facts related to her mental health treatment, including notes and receipts from a therapist, the city will forego its request to have her evaluated by one of their experts.
Reyes-English’s Los Angeles Superior Court whistleblower suit maintains the plaintiff was considered a “snitch” who gave prosecutors information about the councilman and alleged pay-for-play schemes. But in court papers filed with Weinberger in advance of a June 17 hearing, the City Attorney’s Office states that an internal investigation revealed that the plaintiff 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 states in its court papers.
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 9. 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 allege that 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. A preliminary hearing to determine whether Price should stand trial is ongoing.
Price and those closest to him, including Deputy Chief of Staff Jose 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.
Reyes-English emailed her supervisors and human resources 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 Westbrook told others to keep an eye on her.
Reyes-English, who believed the alleged harassment of her 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.
A plaintiff’s deposition of Ugarte is scheduled Friday.
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. Trial is scheduled Sept. 15.