A former L.A. County sheriff's deputy who is one of seven plaintiffs who maintain they were pressured to quit or leave the East Los Angeles station by an internal clique known as the Banditos should be barred from seeking any post-resignation damages, in part because of his two drunken-driving convictions, defense attorneys state in new court papers.
The Los Angeles Superior Court suit filed by plaintiffs Art Hernandez, Alfred Gonzalez, Benjamin Zaredini, David Casas, Louis Granados, Mario Contreras and Oscar Escobedo is scheduled for trial Dec. 11. Along with Los Angeles County, the individual defendants are Rafael "Rene" Munoz, Gregory Rodriguez, David Silverio and Michael Hernandez, who are joining in the county's motion regarding Art Hernandez's damages.
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In court papers filed Tuesday with Judge Kerry Bensinger, the defense attorneys state that Art Hernandez voluntarily resigned from the LASD on Sept. 20, 2023 after disciplinary action was taken against him related to, among other things, two drunk-driving arrests in four years. Had Art Hernandez been fired, he could have fought the action through the Civil Service Commission, but he instead chose to quit, the defense lawyers state in their court papers.
The most recent DUI arrest occurred in June 2021 while the former deputy was on probation, the defense attorneys contend in their court papers.
"After failing the field tests, Mr. Hernandez was arrested by the CHP for driving under the influence and improperly tried to use his position as a deputy sheriff to dissuade the CHP officers from doing their job," according to the defense attorneys' court papers, which further state that Art Hernandez "acknowledged that his conduct brought embarrassment and discredit to the Sheriff's Department."
Despite his attorneys creating two scenarios suggesting Art Hernandez was wrongfully fired in September and is entitled to up to $10.4 million in damages, the lawyers cannot make a connection between lost income after his resignation and any employment-based claims regarding any promotions he may have received had he kept working, the defense attorneys state in their court papers.
"More specifically, there can be no assumption of a lost promotion ... when Mr. Hernandez's resignation made any such promotion an impossibility," the defense attorneys further maintain in their court papers.
The plaintiffs' suit was originally filed in September 2019 and deals in part with the events that allegedly occurred during a September 2018 training session at Kennedy Hall -- an East Los Angeles event venue where the plaintiffs maintain the alleged Banditos "sucker-punched" Art Hernandez and "knocked him out cold," then kicked him while he was unconscious and unable to defend himself.
The suit alleges the assailants also grabbed Escobedo from behind twice and choked him unconscious in a manner that could have killed him.
The plaintiffs were threatened and bullied in attempts to get them to conform to a "corrupt culture," were denied needed backup on dangerous calls and were "shaken down" and ordered to pay taxes to the gang, according to the suit. The plaintiffs also allege they were given excessive calls, sent hostile messages, forced to perform unpaid overtime and denied promotions and transfers.
But in their court papers, county attorneys argue the county is not responsible for anything that allegedly happened to the plaintiffs at Kennedy Hall.
"The county cannot be held liable for the fight since none of the people involved were acting within the scope of their employment with the department, not the plaintiffs or the Individual defendants," the county attorneys state in their court papers. "The party was voluntary -- LASD did not require anyone to go. It was planned and funded by the deputies. None of the attendees were on-duty. And it took place at a site not owned or operated by the county."
The county put the individual defendants on administrative leave, investigated the incident and then fired the individual defendants for their involvement, according to the county attorneys' court papers.
The plaintiffs allege the Banditos are an all-Latino gang that targets young Latinos for harassment, but the county lawyers state in their court papers that the plaintiffs cannot show they heard a single comment or insult about their ethnicity.
The Banditos members actually admitted members of all races and treated all non-Banditos the same, regardless of race, and the plaintiffs were harassed only after they spoke out against the Banditos and not because the plaintiffs themselves are Latinos, the county lawyers state in their court papers.
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