L.A. city attorney is searching through employee emails, creating a climate of fear, staffer alleges

Los Angeles City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto has been reviewing the emails of her employees without their knowledge, contributing to a climate of fear within the office, an employee has alleged.

In a document recently filed with the city, Sean C. Tyler said he saw Feldstein Soto order a supervisor to look through the emails of Michelle McGinnis, then the head of the office’s criminal branch. Tyler, an administrative coordinator, also believes that Feldstein Soto searched his own email account.

Tyler and McGinnis have criticized Feldstein Soto and her team in recent months, both in the workplace and in separate claims for damages. In April, McGinnis was placed on leave and escorted out of the office in front of co-workers.

Tyler’s allegations, contained in the six-page document filed July 26, are among the latest to be lodged against Feldstein Soto. Since January, he and three colleagues have alleged in separate claims that they faced retaliation — either from their managers or Feldstein Soto herself — after they highlighted problems within the office. Two of those colleagues said they also believe their work emails were monitored without their knowledge by Feldstein Soto or others.

In the July 26 filing, Tyler described a fraught atmosphere in the city attorney’s office, with Feldstein Soto using “intimidation tactics” to discourage dissent.

Tyler said Feldstein Soto is accompanied by an armed LAPD officer as she conducts business in City Hall East, which he characterized as “an obvious attempt to intimidate employees.”

Tyler warned that Feldstein Soto could be searching through the emails of employees in other city offices and departments.

Feldstein Soto is also concerned about being spied on herself, ensuring that her office is regularly swept for listening devices, Tyler alleged in his filing.

“There’s an atmosphere of fear,” Tyler, 44, who was hired in 2018 and works in the office’s technology and library services unit, said in an interview. “People are scared. They don’t know what’s happening. There’s a lot of instability.”

Karen Richardson, a spokesperson for Feldstein Soto, said there is “no truth to the flamboyant allegations” contained in Tyler’s filing.

“Employee claims and grievances have been a frequent occurrence in the ordinary course of business at the City Attorney’s office for decades,” she said in a statement.

Richardson said her boss is committed to “examining, investigating and improving the governance of her office.”

“Change is always difficult,” Richardson said in the statement, “and often faces internal resistance from those who benefited from the previous status quo.”

Asked about her security detail, Feldstein Soto said through another aide that every city attorney since Rocky Delgadillo — who served from 2001 to 2009 — has had “dignitary protection.”

It’s not clear whether a city department head who searches work emails would be infringing on employees’ rights — particularly if those searches were conducted as part of a personnel investigation. In addition, emails sent to and from government employees are considered public records, with some exceptions.

Nevertheless, the growing number of employee complaints could have political repercussions for Feldstein Soto, who was elected in 2022 and has already begun fundraising for her reelection campaign.

At City Hall, a claim for damages is a frequently required first step before filing a lawsuit.

In an initial claim filed in April, Tyler said he faced retaliation after complaining about racial discrimination and other issues. He is seeking $10 million in damages.

In his July 26 filing, which expanded on the claim, Tyler alleged that Feldstein Soto has been using a computer program called Relativity to read employee emails “without disturbing email inboxes.” He said those email searches “can be verified by multiple employees and supported by financial documents.”

Tyler also alleged that the office relies on a “bug sweeper,” which he described as a model K18+, to prevent Feldstein Soto’s conversations from being secretly recorded.

So far, the spate of retaliation claims appears to have come exclusively from employees in the criminal branch, which prosecutes misdemeanors such as vandalism, drunk driving and petty theft. Feldstein Soto’s office, which employs hundreds of lawyers, also drafts legislation and defends the city against lawsuits.

McGinnis, who was selected by Feldstein Soto to head the criminal branch in May 2023, filed a 20-page claim in June saying she was subjected to a “barrage of retaliatory actions” after reporting alleged legal and ethical violations in the office.

McGinnis alleged that Feldstein Soto based some decisions about who should be prosecuted on “personal relationships” or “perceived political gain.” She also alleged that the office mishandled grant funds, engaged in discrimination and allowed “inappropriate alcohol consumption” in the workplace.

California

Veteran city prosecutor accuses L.A. City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto of legal, ethical violations

The lawyer said she faced retaliation from City Atty. Hydee Feldstein Soto after reporting problems at office, including ‘excessive’ alcohol consumption.

June 13, 2024

Feldstein Soto, through an aide, has called those assertions untrue. In recent weeks, her office has hired the law firm of Miller Barondess to assist with an “investigation regarding Michelle McGinnis.”

In a July 17 memo, Assistant City Atty. Vivienne Swanigan informed some staffers that participating in the investigation was mandatory — and that they could be fired if they didn’t cooperate or failed to provide “truthful answers.”

Tyler filed his updated claim a week later, saying he does not trust Miller Barondess to carry out an independent investigation because it has a prior relationship with Feldstein Soto. Miller Barondess represented Feldstein Soto when she was a private citizen in 2013, and at least three of the firm’s lawyers donated to her campaign in 2022, Tyler said.

Richardson, the Feldstein Soto aide, said in a statement: “Contributions by firm lawyers or a past engagement by the City Attorney more than a decade ago had no influence on the selection of Miller Barondess as investigators.”

The City Council’s budget committee is scheduled to meet Wednesday behind closed doors to take up a request from Feldstein Soto to retain Miller Barondess on an unspecified legal matter. That three-year agreement would cost up to $500,000.

Tyler is not the only employee to broach the issue of email intrusions. In June, Deputy City Atty. Norman Wegener, a prosecutor assigned to the San Fernando Valley, submitted a claim for damages alleging that he, too, experienced workplace retaliation — and that his emails were read without his knowledge.

Elizabeth Silver Tourgeman, Wegener’s lawyer, said one or more of Wegener’s managers went through his emails to find out “with whom and about what he was communicating.”

Silver Tourgeman said her client is seeking a forensic audit to determine the scale and scope of the intrusions.

In their claims, Wegener and Tyler did not provide evidence to show why they believe their emails have been read.

An employment law expert said that supervisors can, in many instances, legally search through employees’ work emails in response to litigation or as part of an internal investigation.

“If you’re a city attorney, or any company, you have to go through the emails of your staff for the purposes of a lawsuit or another legal proceeding, especially if those emails are requested in discovery,” said Los Angeles attorney Todd Friedman, who specializes in employment and consumer protection law.

Feldstein Soto could be on shakier legal ground, Friedman said, if she is perusing emails sent by employees to family members about medical conditions or other confidential matters. That could violate the employees’ right to privacy, he said.

Tyler, who is Latino, also alleged in his July filing that Feldstein Soto engaged in discrimination by making race a factor in hiring and promotions. In addition, he said, Feldstein Soto improperly pressed the Los Angeles Police Department to take action against a protester who has been one of her more vocal critics.

Tyler also said that his job has taken a serious toll on his health, triggering severe headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure and prolonged periods of anxiety. He is now on medical leave.