Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP / Getty Images
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A judge is scheduled to rule soon on a deposition dispute involving the wife of former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva that stems from a lawsuit by a current deputy, who alleges her career advancements were stymied because a recruit the deputy found to be physically unfit for hiring was a friend of the then-sheriff's spouse.
Lawyers for LIna Pimentel want additional deposition testimony from Vivian Villanueva, a former LASD sergeant who retired in 2018, even though she was dismissed as a defendant in the case in July 2022. The county remains a defendant.
In court papers filed Nov. 22 with Judge Cherol J. Nellon, Vivian Villanueva's lawyers want a court order limiting her second round of deposition questioning to three hours and blocking Pimentel's counsel from asking their client "any further questions that violate the spousal and marital privilege" or that "violate (Vivian Villanueva's) third-party privacy rights."
Vivian Villanueva's lawyers maintain there were problems with the questioning of their client during the first deposition on Aug. 28 when a Pimentel attorney asked Vivian Villanueva at least nine improper questions about her confidential communications with her husband.
"These intentional acts of discourtesy and blatant disrespect for the rules of a deposition compelled plaintiff's counsel to suspend the deposition," Vivian Villanueva's attorneys state in their court papers in favor of issuing a protective order.
But in court papers filed Thursday, Pimentel's attorneys maintain the protective order motion should be denied because the communications between Vivian Villanueva and her husband were made public within the Sheriff's Department.
Common knowledge in the department at the time showed that Vivian Villanueva approved and disapproved of employee hirings and promotions within the LASD through her husband, according to Pimentel's attorneys' court papers, which further state that department executives saw the then-sheriff take photos of promotion and transfer lists and send them to his wife for consideration.
One executive saw names ordered removed from the lists and denied deserving promotions at Vivian Villanueva's direction in retaliation against whistleblowers, Pimentel's lawyers further state in their court papers.
The judge is scheduled to rule on the protective order motion on Dec. 20.
According to her, Pimentel was hired in January 2007, served as a patrol deputy and in August 2019 and was given a highly regarded recruit training officer job at the Sheriff's Academy. She later took part in the decision to dismiss recruit Natalie Garcia, a close, personal friend of Vivian Villanueva, the suit states.
"Vivian Villanueva was acting as a supervisor during all relevant periods of time ... and had an office at plaintiff's worksite," the suit alleges.
Garcia, a longtime LASD custody assistant, was making her second attempt to complete the academy, but Pimentel, Garcia's drill instructor, determined that she was physically unable to complete the course, the suit states.
"Garcia falsely claimed to plaintiff's superiors that plaintiff had forced her to do additional physical training requirements in violation of her medical restrictions," the suit alleges.
In retaliation for plaintiff dismissing her friend as unqualified, Vivian Villanueva "reported" to the academy and called the plaintiff two obscene names reserved for females, the suit alleges. Vivian Villanueva also warned others to keep Pimentel away from her because, "I will go off on that (epithet)," the suit states.
"This gross example of nepotism, abuse of office and workplace harassment has been ratified by current Sheriff Alex Villanueva, who allows his wife to call female deputies names ... in the workplace," the suit filed in January 2022 states.
Pimentel's career progression "has now been effectively terminated" because of Vivian Villanueva's personal attacks on her, according to the suit, which further alleges the sheriff' spouse is "misusing her husband's position as the apex employee of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to do illegal favors for her friends and punish those who do not do favors for her friends."
Garcia, upset because she was unable to meet the minimum physical standards for a deputy, filed a complaint against Pimentel because the plaintiff had told her, "The sheriff is not here to save you," the suit states.
"Plaintiff expressed this to Garcia because (Pimentel) believed that Garcia would seek to abuse her influence with Sheriff Alex Villanueva, by and through his spouse Vivian Villanueva," the suit states.
Alex Villanueva was defeated for re-election in November 2022 by retired Long Beach Police Chief Robert Luna.