Settlements cost California Legislature $580K since 2012

SACRAMENTO — The California Legislature paid at least $580,000 in the last five years to settle harassment, racism and other claims, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.

In one case, a payout included a stipulation forbidding the claimant from making “derogatory statements” about lawmakers or Senate business.

The previously unreported roughly $44,500 settlement in 2015 with former Senate human resources department employee Anita Belmontes and her lawyers was included in settlement documents obtained by the AP through a public records request. They provide the fullest picture yet of the level of taxpayer dollars spent since 2012 to settle claims.

The details of what led to Belmontes’ settlement and transfer to another Senate office were not disclosed in the documents and the Legislature shields its own investigative records from public view.

Her settlement is one of two reviewed by AP that included non-disparagement clauses. The language in Belmontes’ settlement was the broadest.

Jessica Levinson, an ethics expert at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said the provision is a clear restriction of a citizen’s right to free expression.

“If we can contract away criticizing our government, we’re contracting away the basis of our First Amendment rights,” she said.