Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is planning to sue the county after an oversight panel suggested he be placed on a “Do Not Rehire” list.
As the Los Angeles Times noted earlier this year, the former sheriff’s attacks on Inspector General Max Huntsman prompted a county oversight panel to find that Villanueva “violated several policies against discrimination and harassment” and “should receive a ‘Do Not Rehire’ notation” in his file.
“After a long, storied career in public service, Villanueva’s career has been dealt a lethal blow due to respondents’ secretive legal proceedings, unabashedly devoid of any notice, due process, transparency – and even the ‘respect’ assured by respondents’ own published policies,” wrote Carney R. Shegerian, Villanueva’s attorney. “Based on defamatory allegations and an illegal conclusion scarlet-lettering Villanueva as ‘Do Not Rehire’ by respondents, Villanueva’s career has been brought to a standstill.”
During his term in office, Villanueva was a lightning rod for controversy, especially surrounding investigations into the existence of alleged deputy gangs and a controversial decision to rehire a deputy accused of domestic violence.
During these public spats, Villanueva engaged in high-profile altercations with Huntsman and the L.A. County supervisors, a trend that’s continued as recently at Tuesday evening on X, formerly Twitter.
In a statement, county counsel said “the County has not had a chance to fully evaluate this claim, and we intend to review it thoroughly.”
“At this point, however, we can say that the County takes seriously its statutory requirement to be transparent about its peace officers’ actions, including the type of sustained misconduct that led to a ‘Do Not Rehire’ recommendation for former Sheriff Villanueva,” the statement added.