A state appeals court on Wednesday overturned a $1.5-million award for a former Los Angeles prosecutor who said City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo and other supervisors retaliated against her for filing a sex discrimination complaint and reporting misconduct by other attorneys.
The Court of Appeal in Los Angeles found that the evidence did not support Lynn Magnandonovan's allegation. The 2-1 ruling reversed a 2006 jury decision that also gave Magnandonovan substantial legal fees. Her attorney at the time called the awards "an indictment of the city attorney's office."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday, October 31, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 62 words Type of Material: Correction
Magnandonovan case: In an article in Thursday's California section on a state appeals court ruling that overturned a $1.5-million award for former Los Angeles prosecutor Lynn Magnandonovan, a quote and statements expressing surprise that the justices had reversed the jury were incorrectly attributed to her attorney William N. Hancock. The comments were made by Hancock's co-counsel on the case, Jon B. Eisenberg.
Instead, the appellate judges painted a far different picture: one of an unprofessional, problem employee who was openly hostile to judges, court officials and co-workers.
The appellate ruling found that Delgadillo had a legitimate reason for firing Magnandonovan in 2002 because she had "behaved in a wholly unacceptable manner before Superior Court judges." The decision was written by Presiding Justice Paul Turner, with Justice Sandy R. Kriegler concurring.
Specifically, they pointed to a 2001 incident, when Magnandonovan complained bitterly about Court Commissioner Joseph Biderman to his court clerk. Magnandonovan, the clerk reported, told her that the commissioner would answer to "the creator" after he ruled against her when she failed to appear in a probation violation case. Biderman, who is now a Superior Court judge, took the remark as a "veiled reference" to the fact that he was gay, and he reported the incident to his superiors.
That incident alone was a "legitimate nondiscriminatory reason" to fire Magnandonovan, the appeals court stated.
Delgadillo praised the decision Wednesday, saying it affirmed his ability to maintain a staff that is "committed to justice and the highest ideals of the legal profession."
"Today, the Court of Appeal recognized that it is necessary for my office to take appropriate action in those instances, thankfully rare, when a member of our staff fails to meet the high standards our residents deserve," he said in a statement.
Magnandonovan's attorney, William N. Hancock, said Wednesday that he was shocked. The court, he said, in essence supplanted the jury's interpretation of the evidence with its own.
"The appellate courts normally don't second-guess juries in that way," Hancock said.
