Sutter County attacks ‘salacious’ lawsuit
Asks federal judge to dismiss case brought by former prosecutor
Sutter County’s lawyer wants a federal judge to throw out a former prosecutor’s lawsuit, saying it drips with “illicit allegations” that “create salacious rumors intended to humiliate nonparties.”
The county filed a motion to dismiss the federal civil rights suit filed in March by Anu Chopra. A hearing is set for July 13 in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.
In her suit, Chopra, a former deputy district attorney, attacked District Attorney Amanda Hopper, her chief investigator, Jason Parker, and others. Only Sutter County was named as a defendant.
Chopra, a Sikh, alleged a hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation and failure to prevent discrimination.
Hopper terminated Chopra last year.
In response, Chopra, in her suit, said Hopper is “bad at her job” and was involved in an affair with Parker.
“Here, plaintiff alleges two
scurrilous plots that Hopper and Parker were secret lovers and that Hopper and defendant (Lewis) McElfresh were romantically entangled in some way, despite a lack of evidence other than her own self-serving statements, and despite the fact that these accusations are irrelevant to her claims for retaliation, and discrimination/hostile work environment based on race and religion,” the county’s San Francisco attorney, Morin Jacob, wrote. “Plaintiff’s accusation of a secret affair on its face does nothing more than create salacious rumors intended to humiliate nonparties.”
McElfresh was a former Sutter
County Jail commander prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office.
“These illicit allegations are wholly irrelevant and harassing,” Jacob wrote.
In arguing for the dismissal, Jacob also contended Chopra may have violated the privacy rights of Hopper and Parker by including their pictures in her lawsuit. Chopra’s picture was also in the suit.
“Including these nonprobative photographs, especially of nonparties, and without plaintiff’s demonstration that she obtained authority or consent to use of their images, can only be deemed harassing, prejudicial, and an invasion of these individuals’ privacy when they serve no legitimate purpose to the pleadings,” Jacob wrote.
The photos “have no essential
bearing on the allegations of discrimination/harassment in question, or the claims for relief pled, and thus entirely unnecessary to any of the issues in this case. The photo of plaintiff is self-gratuitous and also nonessential to any factual issue or legal claim in this employment action,” according to Jacob.
Chopra alleged at least one employee in the District Attorney’s Office made derogatory remarks about Sikhs.
Jacob, however, contended “a single incident or stray remark that may prompt offended feelings of an employee, however, is not sufficient to establish a claim.”
Chopra’s suit “contains no facts to indicate that any personnel action taken against plaintiff was motivated, in part or at all, because she is Sikh,” Jacob wrote.
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