Sexual harrassment suit filed by 2 deputy DAs against their former supervisor
Two deputy district attorneys for Los Angeles County are suing their former supervisor, saying he sexually harassed them and gave out “stale” cases when they rejected him.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Tannaz Mokayef and Beth Silverman’s lawsuit says profanity and sexual favors are commonplace in the major crimes division of the DA’s office, which handles some of the highest-profile crimes in the county.
The accusations are against Gary Hearnsberger, then head deputy of the major crimes division. The lawsuit says he repeatedly subjected the two women to unwanted touching, graphic sexual comments and sexual gestures. Silverman alleged Hearnsberger touched her buttocks at least twice, and followed it up once by saying “You know you like it.” Mokayef says Hearnsberger compared her vibrating phone to a sex toy and repeatedly told her she “smells good.”
The women say that when they rejected his advances, they were penalized—not only with “stale cases” given to Mokayef, but also with profanity and screaming directed at her and humiliating public criticism of Silverman. By contrast, they said female attorneys who cooperated were given opportunities for career advancement.
They also accuse Hearnsberger of other crude behavior at work, including jokes about a transgender attorney’s genitals and showing up to a 2012 costume party for those working in the hardcore gangs division wearing a stuffed sheep stapled to the crotch of his overalls. Photos of this costume were Exhibit 3 to the complaint.
The women had earlier complained about Hearnsberger to the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Hearnsberger was reassigned to the DA’s Public Integrity Division after that. He has not yet hired a lawyer.
Hearnsberger told the Times that the accusations were false. “I’m being charged with a crime I didn’t commit, and that’s not something prosecutors want to see,” Hearnsberger said. “It not only suggests that I’m doing something wrong but it suggests that the other women assigned to the division are doing something to get good cases. It’s outrageous.”
He told the newspaper Mokayef may be upset because he reassigned a case of hers, and that Silverman may be upset because he had to step in on one of her cases.
Silverman and the DA’s office declined to comment; the Times could not reach Mokayef or the pair’s attorney, Gregory Smith.
