San Mateo County Sheriff sets stage for $10 Million lawsuit against county
Redwood City, CA - The drama involving embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus is about to take a new turn. Over the holiday period, Corpus’ legal team filed documents with the county indicating the sheriff expects to sue the county for $10 Million dollars.
In California, before you can file an actual lawsuit against a government agency, you have to first file what is called a "government claim." Sheriff Corpus’ legal team has now done that, laying out an argument which could ultimately result in a formal lawsuit.
Sheriff Corpus is the first Latina, and the first woman, to lead the department. Her attorney, Brad Gage, believes that is what is at the center of the controversy surrounding her leadership.
"She won an election and now we believe that there are some people who don’t want to see change particularly if it is brought by a Latina. There is still a lot of resistance to women at the top. There is a glass ceiling," Gage said.
A potential lawsuit could now be filed in court within 45 days. Gage said his client has been mistreated, and unfairly criticized, at every junction.
"There are several claims including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, whistleblower retaliation, in violation of the peace officers bill of rights," Gage said.
Claims of abuse of power, racist text messages and retaliation against the deputy sheriff's association were documented in a 400-page report commissioned by the county and prepared by retired judge LaDoris Cordell. Gage said some pages of that report, which contain evidence potentially beneficial to his client, are missing.
"It is suspicious that 29 key pages are missing. And that some of those pages appear to directly refute what is in the report. That is very concerning," Gage said.
In early December, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors took the unusual step of calling for a special election asking voters to give them the authority to remove the sheriff – who is directly elected. While the sheriff was invited to come to the board to tell her side of the story some supervisors made clear where they stand.
"I want people to know that I have zero confidence in anything coming out of her mouth being truthful," Supervisor Noelia Corzo said during the December meeting.
The San Mateo County Executive’s Office shared a statement with KTVU:
"The county did receive a claim from Sheriff Corpus. This claim, which is a required step before a party can file a lawsuit against the county, is without merit. If a lawsuit is filed in the future, the county will address the baseless allegations in court."
On Monday, Sheriff Corpus and her attorney plan to speak with the media about this claim.
If they speak, it will be the first time the Sheriff Corpus directly addresses some of the specific legal claims against the county.