State senator sues over his forced leave
Legislator’s lawsuit claims a ‘secret’ sexual misconduct probe violated his rights.
SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia) filed a lawsuit Thursday against the California Senate, seeking to overturn a forced leave of absence and challenging an investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed three former female aides.
“This Kafkaesque process is the Senate’s response to the #MeToo movement,” the lawsuit says. “It is an unconstitutional sleight-of-hand where attacks on one Senator are used to hide other more serious allegations and offenders from public view.”
The lawsuit, which is joined by Mendoza constituent Roger Bagne, seeks an injunction to “lift Senator Mendoza’s unconstitutional suspension,” requiring the Senate to return Mendoza to his “full rights and priveleges [sic]” as a senator. Mendoza also seeks a declaration from the court that the Senate’s “secretive investigation and failure to advise Senator Mendoza of the allegations against him violates his right to due process.”
“The Senate’s disparate treatment of its own members and their constituents, along with its constantlyevolving and secretive investigative process is wrong and deeply troubling,” Mendoza said in a statement. “The Senate’s process and procedures for handling sexual harassment allegations remain a mystery, which unfairly impacts not only me, but also my constituents, the public, and victims of sexual harassment, who have no idea how their complaints will be handled.”
Mendoza’s lawsuit sin
gles out Senate leader Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) for publicly criticizing Mendoza, noting that they shared a house together until recently. De León did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“However, because he is currently campaigning for a seat in the United States Senate, he is now distancing himself from Senator Mendoza as it is more politically expedient to avoid any negative fallout from his long tenure as Senator Mendoza’s co-tenant,” the lawsuit says.
Mendoza’s effort to have a court reinstate him to regular duties drew criticism from Christine Pelosi, chair of the California Democratic Party’s Women’s Caucus.
“He needs to stay gone, and he should respect the process that does exist and the law that his colleagues did pass to put him on leave,” Pelosi said.
However, Pelosi said Mendoza’s demand for a more open process is a legitimate request.
Mendoza agreed to take a leave of absence until Feb. 1 to allow the investigation by outside attorneys hired by the Senate to be completed, but the Senate Rules Committee voted just before it expired to extend it by 60 days or until the probe is completed.
Bagne, who voted for Mendoza in the last election, argued that the Senate has stripped him of his right to representation.
“What’s happening now does not bolster the public’s confidence in the integrity of the system,” Bagne said in a statement released by Mendoza. “I’m frustrated that my fellow neighbors and I have been left without representation just to fit in with election politicking.”
Mendoza said the Senate has not given him information on the scope of the investigation and what specific allegations have been made. The senator asserted that the Rules Committee failed last year to substantiate the claim of a former aide alleging she was fired in retaliation for reporting what she saw as improper behavior by Mendoza with a Senate fellow.
The lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court, alleges the Senate and its Rules Committee “are conducting a secret and apparently unbounded investigation into the last decade of Senator Tony Mendoza’s career without notice specifying the charges against him, the scope of the investigation, or the standards against which his conduct will be judged.”
Mendoza said the probe is biased and prejudged, and cited a comment by De León that he had “no decency” for making public appearances despite his leave.
The lawsuit alleges that there are pending investigations against at least six other sitting members of the Senate and eight members of the Assembly related to sexual harassment and misconduct, but it does not identify any of them.
The Times recently reported that documents released by the Legislature showed six investigations by the Senate, but some appear to be staff members, not senators. Senate leaders said only three senators are under investigation.
Mendoza says it shows disparate treatment that he was put on leave but a “Caucasian” senator accused of harassment was not, a reference to Sen. Bob Hertzberg (D-Los Angeles), who is facing an investigation for inappropriate hugging.
The lawsuit also challenges Proposition 50, which was approved by voters, saying its provision allowing the Senate to suspend senators without pay deprives them of constitutional rights.