INGLEWOOD, Calif. (2UG) – The Second Appellate District Court has ruled that elected officials are not employees in an ongoing dispute in Inglewood, California.
Inglewood Treasurer Wanda Brown filed a lawsuit against the City and the members of the city council claiming defamation and retaliation after she began to speak out during city council meetings about the state of the City’s finances.
In return, the council, led by Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. voted unanimously to reduce Brown’s duties which led to an 83% reduction in her monthly salary and remove her from sitting on the dais.
Related: Inglewood treasurer ordered to pay attorney fees in ongoing dispute with City
Last September, Brown was ordered to pay $50,000 in attorney fees and costs in the wake of a court ruling trimming some of the claims she brought alleging her salary was cut and that she was locked out of City Hall in retaliation for questioning the handling of the city’s finances.
Months prior, Torrance Superior Court Judge Deirdre Hill ruled on the city’s motion to dismiss Brown’s suit on First Amendment grounds, striking Brown’s cause of action for defamation as well as Brown’s intentional infliction of emotional distress claim to the extent it was based on defamation.
Brown appealed the decision which was upheld by the appellate court and filed on June 30.
Documents can be found here.
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