Marin wins big ruling against $12M racial lawsuit by former prosecutor

A federal judge has ruled in favor of Marin County in a lawsuit brought by a former African American prosecutor, cutting off the action before it got to trial.

Otis Bruce Jr. sued the county and District Attorney Lori Frugoli in 2023 and sought $12 million in damages. The lawsuit alleged that Frugoli retaliated against him, forcing him to quit, after he raised concerns about alleged “discrimination and disparate treatment directed at a newly hired African American male deputy District Attorney.”

Bruce, as Frugoli’s assistant district attorney at the time, was the second-ranked prosecutor in the office. He was not responsible for direct attorney supervision, but his duties included running programs involving diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice.

The case had been scheduled for a jury trial in March, but on Jan. 30, U.S. District Court Judge Jon Tigar granted a summary judgment in favor of the county.

Bruce declined to comment on the ruling. Cabral Bonner, an attorney representing Bruce, said his client intends to appeal the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Bruce has 30 days following the decision to file the appeal.

“We think there were ample facts of pretext, and the court should have allowed the case to go to the jury,” Bonner said.

Marin County Counsel Brian Washington, in an email, wrote, “The County is obligated to maintain a discrimination-free workplace, and the ruling validates the County’s efforts to do so in this instance.”

“The County is confident that any reviewing Court would arrive at the same conclusions as Judge Tigar,” Washington wrote.

Frugoli said, “In taking the actions described in the opinion, my focus was to ensure that my staff would be protected from abusive conduct. The judge’s opinion validates these actions.”

One of the central issues discussed in Tigar’s ruling is whether the county had a legitimate reason for first directing Bruce to work remotely and subsequently placing him on paid administrative leave, or whether these actions represented retaliation for his support of the African American prosecutor, Cameron Jones. Frugoli dismissed Jones in 2022 for allegedly poor job performance.

“The County’s nonretaliatory explanation for the actions it took against Bruce is very strong,” Tigar wrote.

In his ruling, the judge lays out the facts of the case and then meticulously dissects each cause of action in Bruce’s suit.

The decision recounts that following a 2022 “restorative justice” session aimed at addressing employee concerns about workplace dynamics in the District Attorney’s Office, nine separate complaints from prosecutors regarding Bruce were submitted to Chief Deputy District Attorney Dori Ahana.

“Painting a picture of chronic and severe misconduct by Bruce,” Tigar wrote, “these letters alleged that he made offensive remarks regarding deputy district attorneys’ gender and identities, disparaged their ability or work ethic, made comments that appeared designed to manipulate or intimidate them, took credit for their successes, attempted to undermine the chain of command and interfered with recruitment, hiring and promotion.”

Prosecutors said Bruce retaliated when he thought they crossed him. Many of the complaints alleged favoritism to Jones or unprofessional or toxic behaviors designed to protect him.

In August 2022, Frugoli directed Bruce to work remotely while the complaints were being investigated. She also relieved him of any duties requiring engagement with other attorneys in the office, told him not to contact other prosecutors and prohibited him from reporting back to the office until directed.

However, Bruce repeatedly complained to Frugoli that he was unable to work remotely because of technology issues and a lack of ergonomic equipment. Frugoli told Bruce to contact specific personnel to request equipment to address both concerns, but Bruce did not do so.

“Bruce does not deny that he failed to make these requests — in fact, he makes no response on this point at all,” Tigar wrote.

In September 2022, a prosecutor requested a leave of absence in part related to Bruce’s reported presence near the office during the prior week. Soon after, Frugoli placed Bruce on paid administrative leave pending the conclusion of the investigation.

In December 2022, before the investigation had been completed, Bruce resigned effective Dec. 31. Several days later, he was hired at a substantially higher salary as an assistant district attorney for Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price.

The Oppenheimer Investigations Group conducted the internal investigation on Bruce for Marin County. It completed the investigation in February 2023 and sustained the allegations by the complaining prosecutors.

Roger Crawford, the county’s equal employment opportunity director, reviewed the report and concurred with the findings that Bruce had violated personnel management regulations.

In his decision, Tigar agreed with Bruce’s assertion that requiring him to work remotely and placing him on paid administrative leave were “adverse employment actions.”

“Turning to pretext, however,” Tigar wrote, “the Court concludes that Bruce has identified no evidence sufficient to raise a genuine issue of fact that the county’s stated reason was pretextual.”

Tigar added that he was granting summary judgment on Bruce’s claim on retaliation because, “Defendants have met their burden to establish a nonretaliatory reason for the adverse employment actions.”