A state judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva that accused the county of defaming him, violating his rights and unfairly placing a “not rehireable” label on his personnel file.
In a 26-page order, Superior Court Judge Gary D. Roberts on Wednesday granted the county’s request to dismiss the lawsuit under California’s anti-SLAPP law, writing that Villanueva’s claims lacked “minimum merit.”
Jason Tokoro, the county attorney, said the dismissal of the case was “a major victory.”
“We are pleased that the court agreed with the county that former Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s claims are barred by California’s anti-SLAPP statutes and have no basis,” he wrote in an emailed statement Thursday. “The county can now close this chapter.”
The ruling marks the third time the court has rejected Villanueva’s claim that the county treated him unfairly, causing him to suffer “humiliation, severe emotional distress, mental and physical pain and suffering, and compensatory damages.”
The complaint in the lawsuit Villanueva filed in June said it was an “attempt to clear his name, preserve his reputation, and remedy the emotional distress caused to him by Defendants’ conduct.”
Villanueva had previously attempted to sue in federal court. In September 2024, a judge in the Central District of California dismissed the former sheriff’s $25 million federal lawsuit over the allegations and then dismissed the lawsuit May again After Villanueva refiled the lawsuit.
Villanueva did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday. The Sheriff’s Department declined to comment.
The dispute began when Inspector General Max Hunstman claimed in 2022 that Villanueva’s insistence on calling Hunstman by his birth name, Max-Gustaf, was a “race-based attack.” Villanueva also called Huntsman a Holocaust denier without providing any evidence, a charge the inspector general denied.
The county investigated Huntsman’s allegations and labeled the former sheriff “no longer employed.” Each year, a county panel recommends that dozens of government employees be disciplined by adding “no hire” or other restrictions to their personnel files for a range of unethical behavior, including theft and invasion of privacy.
Villanueva argued in the state lawsuit that he was unfairly labeled a “no hire” when multiple public officials who engaged in illegal conduct avoided the label. Villanueva insists he never discriminated against or harassed anyone.
“The Commission’s unprecedented placement of Villanueva on the ‘do not hire’ list is the result of defamatory allegations of discrimination and harassment,” the former police chief wrote in his June complaint.
Around the same time Huntsman made her accusation, Esther Lim, then-county Supervisor Hilda Solis’ deputy judicial deputy, filed a complaint accusing Villanueva of harassing women of color on social media livestreams. The allegation also prompted an investigation and a “do not hire” label, which Villanueva disputed.
