LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A former Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety employee can have an expedited trial of his lawsuit alleging that he was ousted in 2019 after raising concerns at the agency about overcharging of customers and other issues, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Steve Ongele, a former bureau chief with the department, filed a whistleblower retaliation suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in January 2021, alleging that his termination was aimed at inducing workers to avoid speaking out about alleged wrongdoing by the city and its employees of they want to keep their jobs.
Ongele's lawyers maintained in their motion to move up the trial date that Ongele has had suicidal thoughts and other mental health issues. Judge Christopher K. Lui granted the motion on Tuesday, noting there was no opposition from the city. Lui advanced the scheduled trial date from Nov. 4 to June 3.
In their court papers filed in support of their motion, lawyers for the 59-year-old Ongele stated that their client is $50,000 in debt and has been unable to work due to debilitating mental and physical conditions.
"Over the past year, and particularly over the last several months, plaintiff's cognitive and emotional health have declined to the point where he is now struggling regularly with remembering circumstances and events, expressing himself verbally and responding to questions about simple matters," Ongele's attorneys further stated in their court papers.
During one recent conversation with one of his lawyers, Ongele abruptly stopped talking to his counsel and asked if he could instead send her an email, his lawyers wrote in their court papers.
In addition, Ongele since late 2023 has had suicidal ideations which have increased in frequency and severity to the point where his therapist recently worked with him to develop a safety plan so he has steps he can take to avoid harming himself, according to Ongele's lawyers' court papers.
In his own sworn declaration, Ongele acknowledged he has cognitive issues.
In their court papers, the City Attorney's Office denies Ongele's allegations, maintaining that they are barred in whole or in part by the statute of limitations and that the city has immunity against them.
According to his suit, In the fall of 2013 Ongele told then-LADBS Executive Officer Raymond Chan that the department was collecting more fees than it was spending and that he believed studies should be done to ensure that the city was not violating laws requiring that the fees be proportional to the costs of providing those services.
In late 2016, Ongele found out that several salaried department employees who were exempt from overtime pay had nonetheless been paid overtime for many years and he insisted to management that the employees refund the money, according to the suit, which further states that a year later Ongele reported that the department had a surplus of more than $300 million in its enterprise fund due to severe overcharges of customers, including the federal government.
Ongele was subjected to retaliation, but his internal complaint was dismissed and he was terminated in October 2019, according to the suit, which additionally notes that before Ongele departed, Chan was named deputy mayor for economic development by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti.
Chan is being tried on a dozen federal counts, including racketeering conspiracy, two types of bribery and lying to federal agents for his alleged role in a pay-to-play scheme that prosecutors say monetized the real estate approval process at City Hall and also involved convicted ex-city councilman José Huizar.