Los Angeles County on Tuesday launched an investigation to determine whether a record $4 billion sexual abuse settlement approved this year was tainted.
County supervisors unanimously filed a motion asking the county attorney to investigate possible misconduct by “legal representatives” involved in the recent flood of sexual abuse lawsuits against Los Angeles County. The county auditor’s office also plans to establish a hotline exclusively for public tips related to the lawsuit, according to the motion.
Superintendent Kathryn Berger, who first called for the investigation, said: “It’s horrifying and upsetting that someone would try to exploit a system designed to bring justice to victims of child sexual abuse.” “We must ensure that something like this never happens again and that every penny we allocate to victims goes directly to survivors.”
Berger said she was “incredibly disturbed and frankly disgusted” by last week’s report in the Times that alleges seven plaintiffs received money from recruitment agencies to sue the county in the largest sexual abuse settlement in U.S. history. The two said they were told to make up claims of abuse. Plaintiffs interviewed by the Times said recruiters paid them out of a social services office in South Los Angeles.
All those who claimed to have received compensation from the recruiters were represented by Downtown LA Law Group (DTLA), a personal injury law firm that represented more than 2,700 plaintiffs in the settlement. DTLA denied any involvement with the recruiter. The Times was unable to reach the recruiter for comment.
The company previously said in a statement: “We do not pay customers to litigate and we strongly oppose such actions.” “We want justice for the real victims.”
The county has agreed to spend $4 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits brought by people who say they were sexually abused as children in county foster care and juvenile halls. The lawsuit was filed under a 2020 law that changed the statute of limitations and gave victims a new window to sue.
Most county departments had to cut their budgets to pay for the settlement. Supervisor Holly Mitchell called it a “painful irony” that many of those who received awards in the lawsuit were there to get help from the district’s South Los Angeles Department of Social Services, part of the department currently facing layoffs.
“We are not an ATM machine,” Supervisor Hilda Solis said. “We are a safety net.”
The Times reported that many of the lawyers involved in the case will receive 40% of their clients’ settlements. Berger said she was shocked to learn that this could potentially funnel more than $1 billion in taxpayer money to law firms.
“I very much doubt that any of these lawyers understand the depth of what they’ve done,” Berger said. “It’s going to impact the functioning of the county.”
The motion passed Tuesday directs the county attorney to request assistance from law enforcement “as appropriate” and consider referring the allegations in the Times report to state court.
California lawmakers, labor leaders and a powerful legal trade group are also asking the court to investigate.
The state court declined to comment on whether it would launch an investigation, but said California law generally prohibits customer solicitation or procurement payments, a practice known as capping.
A majority of supervisors expressed anger Tuesday over the 2020 changes, saying the law was poorly written and cost counties billions of dollars. Many counties and school districts have similarly decried the statute of limitations changes, saying they are now forced to fight decades-old lawsuits with no records. The government is required to destroy old records about minors for privacy reasons, and lawyers are often unable to prove whether the person filing the lawsuit was in the facility where the abuse allegedly occurred.
The law was sponsored by Lorena Gonzalez, a former lawmaker and current president of the California Federation of Labor. Berger repeatedly referred to the law, commonly referred to as AB 218, as the “Gonzalez bill.”
“I call it the status quo,” Berger said, noting that school districts across the state are currently in similarly dire financial straits. “Maybe it’s time for all of us to come together and figure out how to clean up the mess that the Gonzalez bill has caused.”
Gonzalez said she believes plaintiffs’ attorneys have taken advantage of her bill and is looking for someone in Sacramento to pass new legislation that would make it easier for the jurisdiction to defend itself. She stressed that protecting real victims is a top priority and said the bill does not change the burden of proof.
“What, are they just angry because they can’t do their due diligence?” she said. “They are shirking all their responsibility in this matter. I’m making it clear that changes should be made. They should make it clear that they have probably not met their burden of proof.”
Last week, some county unions and state lawmakers fought whether county attorneys adequately reviewed allegations of abuse before agreeing to pay billions of dollars. Supervisors were scheduled to meet with county attorneys privately Tuesday afternoon to discuss, in part, how the allegations were reviewed.
“Did we do depositions? Did we do due diligence?” Supervisor Janice Hahn said. “The first thing that came to mind was, what is the responsibility of actually having to scrutinize each case?”
Supervisors emphasized that they believe the settlement includes many legitimate claims and want victims to be compensated for their abuse at the hands of county employees.
Many victims told the Times they suffered at the hands of probation officers decades ago, and were threatened with sexual assault and solitary confinement if they spoke to higher-ups. Interviews with six victims revealed that the now-closed county-run shelter McLaren Children’s Center in El Monte also had predatory staff members.
“We have to truly reach the people who have been affected,” Supervisor Lindsey Horvath said. “These funds should go to survivors, not individuals or organizations seeking to profit from someone else’s suffering.”
