City settles with DA whistleblower
A former investigator at the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office was awarded an $835,000 settlement by the city after claiming he was fired in retaliation for calling out misconduct he said he witnessed in a fatal policeshooting case.
The payout agreement, which was approved by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and Mayor London Breed, comes three years after Jeffrey Pailet filed a lawsuit alleging wrongful termination by then-District Attorney Chesa Boudin and Boudin’s chief of staff, David Campos.
City officials said the settlement does not admit to wrongdoing, and that all claims against the city were dismissed.
When he was fired in 2020, Pailet was a member of the department’s Independent Investigations Bureau, which investigates incidents involving police shootings and other serious use-of-force cases.
In his suit, which was filed in San Francisco Superior Court, Pailet alleged improper conduct during an investigation into a fatal 2017 police shooting.
Pailet claimed that investigators for the district attorney withheld key details when writing search warrants for officers’ cellphone records. When Pailet brought his allegations to DA officials, Pailet said, he was ignored, threatened and ultimately terminated, according to the complaint.
There were internal complaints and an investigation that ultimately led to Pailet’s firing in November 2020, according to the complaint. He appealed the firing, but it was upheld on April 23, 2021.
In a Wednesday statement, plaintiff’s attorney Olivia Leary said the settlement affirms Pailet’s whistleblower complaints and his “commitment to uphold the truth.”
“I knew speaking out may result in consequences for myself, but it was my duty not to permit this to continue to take place,” Pailet said in a statement.
Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for the city attorney’s office, said the city is “committed to providing a workplace free from retaliation.”
“We believe this settlement is an appropriate resolution given the inherent cost of continued litigation.”
Boudin declined to comment Wednesday.
“I was unable to stand by and witness corruption occurring during any investigation, and I could not let my colleagues and myself be pressured into allowing illegal and unethical activities to take place,” Pailet said in a statement. “I knew speaking out may result in consequences for myself, but it was my duty not to permit this to continue to take place.”