Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer
A former supervisor in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office was awarded $3 million in damages as a result of her lawsuit alleging gender-based harassment and a hostile work environment created by District Attorney Todd Spitzer and others.
A San Diego County jury issued the verdict on June 5. Plaintiff Tracy Miller, who served as a senior assistant district attorney before resigning her position in 2022, was also awarded $25,000 in punitive damages. The trial was moved to San Diego as a result of a venue change to avoid potential conflicts of interest
The original lawsuit, which was filed in 2022, alleged that conduct by Spitzer and others in the office caused Miller emotional distress, loss of past and future earnings, loss of pension and loss of reputation. Defendants included the county, Spitzer and former Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Nelson, who now serves as an Orange County judge.
“This environment was created in retaliation for, and in order to disable Miller from, protecting her female subordinates who had properly and painfully reported sexual misconduct by a male superior, Gary LoGalbo, who was Spitzer’s best man at his wedding,” Miller’s complaint states.
LoGalbo is now deceased.
One of Miller’s attorneys, John D. Barnett, said he hoped the jury’s verdict would send a firm message to prosecutors throughout California.
"I hope this verdict sends a message to this elected prosecutor, and all elected prosecutors in our state, that they cannot commit gender harassment and cannot retaliate against anyone for reporting and defending the victims of sexual misconduct," Barnett told the Southern California Record.
It should also send a warning to managers who have authority over female employees in workplaces that they will be held to high standards of conduct.
“You cannot commit those acts without there being a reckoning,” he said.
Miller, Barnett’s client, has also expressed satisfaction that the jury understood the facts of the case, followed the law and believed she was forced out of her position in the District Attorney’s Office.
“I don't know of another case when a sitting prosecutor was found to have intentionally retaliated against members of his own office," Barnett said.
The District Attorney’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.
Miller’s lawsuit described a number of meetings in which she was criticized and humiliated by Spitzer in front of her subordinates.
“During 2021 and continuing, in retaliation for Miller’s protected activity, Spitzer and Nelson would repeatedly belittle and humiliate Miller in executive meetings,” the lawsuit said. “Some of the retaliatory comments made towards Miller include … ‘Be quiet,’ ‘Why are you talking,’ ‘I am not asking for your feedback,’ ‘I don’t need an opinion from you. Shut up and listen.’”
Eventually, the lawsuit said, Miller was threatened with the loss of her responsibilities relating to promotions in the office in response to her providing information in the sexual harassment probe against LoGalbo.
“Based on the totality of circumstances, Miller believed that she had no reasonable alternative except to retire early,” the complaint said. “Thus, Miller submitted an email to Spitzer providing him notice that she would be retiring on Jan. 27, 2022.”
