Former LA city councilman's lawsuit over scandalous recording clears hurdle

LOS ANGELES (CN) — Former LA City Councilman Gil Cedillo’s lawsuit against two ex-union employees, who Cedillo says secretly recorded a conversation between him and three colleagues that led to a raging scandal, can proceed to trial after a Superior Court judge denied a motion to dismiss the case.

Unfortunately for Cedillo, the suit could prove to be less lucrative than he might have hoped: The judge also agreed to a demurrer by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, removing the labor group from the lawsuit, though Cedillo will be allowed to amend his complaint, if he chooses to.

The now-infamous recording was made in 2021, at the headquarters of the LA County Federation of Labor, a powerful union umbrella group. There, Cedillo met with the head of the labor group, Ron Herrera, and two of his council colleagues, Kevin de Leon and City Council President Nury Martinez. The discussion revolved largely around redistricting — the once-a-decade process of redrawing the electoral map. For more than an hour, the four officials spoke in crudely cynical terms about race and the racial makeup of the council.

“It’s the white members on this council that will motherfuck you in a heartbeat,” Martinez said.

“The white folks will cut you in a heartbeat,” de León agreed.

Referring to then-District Attorney George Gascón, Martinez said, “Fuck that guy. He’s with the Blacks.”

Martinez called Mike Bonin, then a progressive councilman who is white and gay with an adopted Black son, a “little bitch.” She mocked his parenting style, saying, “They’re raising him like a little white kid,” and referred to the son in Spanish as “parece changuito,” or “like a monkey.”

Nearly a year after the meeting, an 80-minute audio recording of it was posted online to Reddit and Twitter. What resulted was an unprecedented firestorm of anger directed at Martinez, de Leon and Cedillo. Martinez was forced to resign, as was Herrera. De Leon stood his ground but was voted out of office. Cedillo, who said nothing offensive on the recording, was in his final four-year term as a councilman, though his reputation took a serious body blow.

Police, investigating what appeared to be an illegal recording, traced the posts to the same email account and an IP address belonging to the home of Santos Leon and Karla Vasquez, a married couple who both worked for the LA County Federation of Labor. However, there was little evidence linking the two to the actual recording, and prosecutors declined to press charges.

“The evidence indicates that a crime was committed by one or both of these individuals," prosecutors wrote about Leon and Vasquez in a memo. “However, it is unclear how the unlawful recordings took place, the device used to do so, or who uploaded the recordings online and created the anonymous accounts.”

Leon and Vasquez, who are now separated, have denied making the recording, and say their home computer was owned by the union umbrella group and could have been accessed remotely by others.

Both Cedillo and de Leon filed lawsuits against Leon and Vasquez for invasion of privacy. Vasquez filed an anti-SLAPP motion to have her complaint thrown out, but that motion was denied. Cedillo’s complaint was also aimed at the LA County Federation of Labor. Leon filed an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing, somewhat incongruously, that even though he had nothing to do with the recording or the posting of the audio, he was still entitled to anti-SLAPP protection, since the suit was intended to chill his free speech and public participation.

On Thursday afternoon, more than two months after the hearing on the motion, Superior Court Judge Virginia Keeny issued her ruling, denying Leon’s motion.

“Regardless of who did the illegal recordings, it appears undisputed that the recordings appeared on Leon’s computer during the critical period, that he participated in the debate about the recordings and that he believed the recordings were a matter of significant public importance,” Keeny wrote. “While he denies that he made the recordings or that he was the first to upload them, this circumstantial evidence would support a finding that he either made the recordings or uploaded them.”

“To establish invasion of privacy,” Keeny added, “Cedillo need not establish that Leon did the initial illegal recording but only that Leon republished private information (or information obtained illegally).”

Reached by phone, Santos’ lawyer Martin Berman called parts of Keeny’s ruling “completely wacky” and “internally inconsistent.”

“There is no cause of action for republishing something,” Berman said. “It’s for illegally recording something.”

When asked if his client would appeal the ruling, Berman replied, “It seems likely.”

The other attorneys on the case did not respond to emails requesting a comment.

In a separate ruling issued at the same time, Keeny sustained a demurrer filed by the labor federation.

“It is unclear on what theory plaintiff seeks to hold the Federation liable for the alleged criminal conduct of these employees,” Keeny wrote. “Is the Federation alleged to have directed Leon and Vasquez, or other unnamed employees, to make the recordings and release them? Is the Federation allegedly liable because it is responsible for the criminal acts of its employees, under some theory? Is there some other theory of liability? As the complaint currently stands, it is uncertain what liability the Federation has for the secret recording of its president in a private meeting with government officials.”

Cedillo has 30 days to amend his complaint if he wants to keep the labor federation as a defendant in the case.

Follow @hillelaron