Attorneys for Los Angeles County want a judge to strike the punitive damages claim within a lawsuit filed by a self- professed porn actress who alleges sheriff's deputies inappropriately touched her after she was arrested at the Abbey Bar & Grill in West Hollywood in 2022.
The plaintiff is identified only as Jane Doe in the Beverly Hills Superior Court lawsuit, which alleges sexual battery, sexual assault, battery by a law enforcement officer and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.
However, in court papers filed Tuesday with Judge Edward B. Moreton, Jr., Los Angeles County lawyers maintain that the state Government Code precludes a plaintiff from obtaining punitive damages against a public entity.
"Accordingly, as (Los Angeles County) is a public entity and the only properly named defendant in this action as the complaint stands at present, punitive damages are statutorily not recoverable...," the county attorneys maintain in their court papers filed in advance of a hearing on the motion scheduled Aug. 31.
Doe was a customer at the Abbey on April 16, 2022, which the suit describes as an "LGBTQ-friendly" establishment located on Robertson Boulevard. She was mingling with friends and other patrons while wearing a black skirt and black top emblazoned with the logo Brazzers, a reference to a pornographic video production company, the suit states.
"Plaintiff was and is a widely known and easily identifiable female adult entertainer or pornstar actress," the suit filed June 1 states. "Due to her popularity, plaintiff is routinely recognized by viewers of pornographic videos, as well as consumers of popular culture media."
The suit states Doe was detained and arrested, but does not state why. She alleges two deputies removed her bra and inappropriately touched her, then wrongfully told her to take off her underwear while she was in the rear seat of a patrol car.
Doe alleges the deputies, none of whom were Black like her, knew she was a porn actress and believed she was "deserving of the indignity of being sexually violated."
Doe continues to be fearful of her health, safety and freedom and to suffer emotional distress because of her interaction with the deputies, according to the suit, which further states she delayed taking legal action for fear of retaliation by the deputies.
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