A new wrinkle has emerged in Orange County’s ongoing sexual harassment scandal.
Former Public Works Director Jess Carbajal has filed a wrongful termination lawsuit with the Orange County Superior Court alleging that county leaders fired him in July 2012 in an effort to cover up a developing sex scandal involving one of their top executives.
Back in July 2012, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas charged former Public Works executive and Santa Ana City Councilman Carlos Bustamante with twelve felony sex charges surrounding his alleged harassment of female subordinates.
Soon after Rackauckas’ press conference, the Board of Supervisors began investigating and taking action against the county departments involved. Notably, the county’s top administrative authority was swift to ask County CEO Tom Mauk to fire Carbajal after reviewing a March audit that suggested he mishandled departmental affairs by failing to take action once the Bustamante allegations came to light.
Carbajal is alleging that he in fact took the proper steps in handling the accusations.
Carbajal wasn’t the only victim of the Bustamante fallout. Mauk resigned not long after and his second-in-command, Deputy CEO Alisa Drakodaidis, was eventually fired.
Bustamante has pleaded not guilty but if convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of over 26 years in state prison.
Read the full article at the Voice of OC.
View the paperwork from the Carbajal lawsuit below: