Two Los Angeles County candidates running for state and local office remain defendants in a lawsuit alleging financial responsibility for the sexual abuse of underage campaign volunteers, a judge ruled Thursday. did.
Efren Martinez, who is running for a seat representing South Los Angeles in the California State Assembly, and Graciela Ortiz, a candidate for the Los Angeles Board of Education, came under fire after this year’s election. a civil lawsuit was filed. Billy Valdivia, the campaign worker accused of abuse, has pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with the volunteer.
According to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on January 9, both the perpetrator and victim were involved in Ortiz and Martinez’s 2021 campaign.
Judge Lee W. Tsao on Friday morning gave plaintiffs’ lawyers an opportunity to prove that Mr. Martinez’s alleged negligence in hiring, training and supervising Valdivia was a “substantial contributing factor” to the harm inflicted on the volunteer high school girls. The court ruled that it should be granted.
The judge did not think the potential case against Martinez applied to Ortiz and dismissed that portion of the lawsuit against her. However, Ortiz allegedly had a special relationship with the students, which could show that “children lack the ability to recognize risks and dangers and require greater consideration.” Because of the nature of the case, the judge kept Ortiz in the case. ” The judge also decided to consider evidence that the defendants “agreed to a common plan” to cover up Valdivia’s conduct.
Former lawyers for Mr. Martinez and Mr. Ortiz have previously argued that the lawsuit is a carefully timed political “smear.”
Michael Trujillo, a campaign spokesman for Ortiz and Martinez, said: “It’s unfortunate that people would try to use the court system to influence elections, but we want to make sure that this lawsuit is the first of its kind.” I expect the same rejection.”
Ortiz’s full-time job is as a school support administrator, supervising counselors. However, during the time of the alleged events, she had been serving as a school counselor for most of her career with the district, starting in 2006. Ortiz also lost a bid for a seat on the school board in 2019.
Ortiz was temporarily removed from her position as L.A. Unified Counseling administrator in February pending an investigation into the allegations. Thomas Scully, the plaintiff’s attorney, argued that as the student’s counselor, Ortiz had a fiduciary relationship with him that would make him liable if the teen was in a situation and was harmed.
Martinez is a Marine veteran and served as executive director of the Florence Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce. In 2020, he lost in a close race against incumbent Democrat Reggie Jones-Sawyer, receiving 42% of the vote.
A political action committee opposed to Mr. Martinez has launched a lawsuit to convince voters that he is unfit for office. The PAC is primarily funded by the California Teachers Association, the SEIU California Board of Trustees, and the California School Employees Association. two groups of them I supported His opponent in the election for the 52nd Congressional District is Sade Elwari.
“It is disgusting and very unfortunate that they are using this politically motivated lawsuit…Even after we informed the opposition Sade and the trade unions, they are still very unpleasant. “We continue to stoop so low to get the word out,” Martinez previously told the Times. Public hearing on October 10th. He did not respond to requests for comment after the hearing.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from Mr. Martinez and Mr. Ortiz, as well as the accuser, identified as Valdivia’s “BA,” according to court records. He also pleaded no contest to the weapons charge.
Times staff writer Howard Bloom contributed to this report.
