A demurrer was filed by the County co-defendants to the second amended complaint in the lawsuit by former Deputy Public Defender Rory Kalin against Humboldt Superior Court Judge Gregory Elvine-Kreis, Public Defender Marek Reavis, Assistant Deputy Public Defender Luke Brownfield and County of Humboldt.
It was scheduled for May 26. and continued to June 4. I have seen the complaint, the second amended complaint and looked at the FEHA statute.
Kalin's attorney, is Mr. Jonathan Hornberger. Judge Elvine-Kreis' attorney is Mr. Patrik Griego. Ms. Melissa Currier is representing all County defendants.
The court hearing had technical issues in the beginning and middle wasting 20 minutes. The hearing started at 11 and court breaks for lunch at noon. This case is being heard by a Judge from another county and two of the attorneys are out of the area.
The clerk and court reporter, both in different locations, could not hear the Judge or attorneys. Livestream was working fine for everyone else. Everyone was appearingvia Zoom.
The second time the Court reporter mentioned the host got switched. The court clerk said court tech remotely switched host, she did not. The computer for the reporter froze. Court tech did respond to an email after 5 minutes. For almost 15 minutes, we were waiting while tech did troubleshooting. The Court reporter needed to turn a different laptop, then there was an echo and audio issues until the court reporter turned something off.
Mr. Griego filed an answer but he is not part of this demurrer.
After hearing from both Mr. Hornberger and Ms. Currier, Mendocino Superior Court Judge Ann Moorman, once again, was impressed with Mr. Hornberger's arguments and said would issue a written ruling next week.
A future case management will be scheduled after Judge Moorman's ruling. The jury trial for June 7 has been vacated.
The County is trying to weasel out of the wrongful termination claim and Reavis and Brownfield are trying to get the demurrer granted for claims against individuals about wrongful termination and collusion. They did not get their way today. The County and the good ole boy/gal network of Humboldt Superior Court are not used to being challenged or having anyone stand up to them.
Ms. Currier's demurrer was regarding three causes of action.
At first, Judge Moorman said she was inclined to grant the demurrer regarding wrongful termination because, "I don't see it as an alternative pleading."
"With all due respect, I disagree with that," said Mr. Hornberger. "A wrongful termination of a FEHA claim is proper cause against a public entity.
"You do allege several claims that are valid and you can get damages for," said Judge Moorman. "You are claiming wrongful termination is based on FEHA. You get damages if you prevail on one or more FEHA claims."
"The first day Kalin came back from medical leave, he was terminated by Reavis who said your services are no longer needed, give me your keys, I will call the cops. There is retaliation, discrimination but also wrongful termination." Mr. Hornberger said a jury may agree. He said the discharge was in violation of FEHA 12940.
Ms. Currier said she had not seen any authority against public entity. She just repeating that wrongful termination claims are invalid against apublic entity. Judge Moorman brought up a case that Currier cited that actually worked for Mr. Hornberger's argument.
"Alternative pleading is allowed," said Mr. Hornberger. "It is wrongful termination according to FEHA 12940, sub section (c) and (h). The section we cite states discharge 6 times. Discharge is the same as termination."
Judge Moorman said, "I was focused on case law. The statute does include discharge which is termination."
Judge Moorman said, "His point is that the complaint states that on a given day, Reavis said your services are no longer needed. This was after all these events alleged on Memorial Day."
"If plaintiff can prove that Reavis made the decision; the motivation was a violation of FEHA; even if we can't find a case, why is that not wrongful termination." Judge Moorman said she would take another look at the statute.
"He didn't say it is just FEHA," said Judge Moorman. "Religious, whistleblower, disability. If he can prove Reavis' motivation. I find his argument intriguing."
"If the Court grants the demurrer, I ask the Court to grant leave to amend," said Mr. Hornberger.
"There are two other causes of action with respect to Reavis and Brownfield," said Judge Moorman.
"They are the personification of the County," said Mr. Hornberger. "They are the agent of the County and play the role of third party."
Referring to the collusion in the complaint, Mr. Hornberger mentioned the timeframe after Memorial Day in Shasta. "It was the catalyst for breach of employment. There are other actions by Reavis and Brownfield that may be outside the scope of employment."
The photos are from the boating incident mentioned in Kalin's lawsuit. Elvine-Kreis, a Judge was hanging out, drinking with Public Defenders in an outing organized by Brownfield. Kalin has made other allegations and if you have not been following the regular coverage about this lawsuit on the blog, you can read up on the lawsuit, more about Elvine-Kreis' conduct in court with his Public Defender bros and more about him in previous coverage.
Other than being Elvine-Kreis' buddy, what are Brownfield's qualifications for being Assistant Deputy Public Defender? He sucked as a prosecutor; he sucks as a public defender and he doesn't show up for work, a lot.
Reavis had been placed on administrative leave. He briefly came back and is retiring in July.
Previous post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/05/judge-moorman-makes-disclosure-about.html?m=1
Recent posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/02/will-rory-kalin-get-fair-coverage-and.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/02/i-am-inclined-to-deny-it-on-all-grounds.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/01/instead-of-county-counsel-sacramento.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/12/no-appearances-by-attorneys-or-parties.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/11/rory-kalin-files-another-lawsuit.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/10/private-mediationdepositions-and-motion.html?m=1
Related posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/04/are-you-back-from-aa-yet-and-castaway.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2021/03/if-this-is-just-gossip-about-judge-why.html?m=1
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.