Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer is the subject of a series of lawsuits alleging workplace sexual harassment, retaliation against whistleblowers, and unlawful concealment of public records. Two San Diego County juries have returned multimillion-dollar verdicts against him and the county, several other employees have settled for millions more, and separate courts have found that Spitzer violated California’s Racial Justice Act and the California Public Records Act. As of early 2026, Orange County had disclosed more than $11 million in spending over two years defending conduct within the DA’s office, with four additional harassment suits still moving through the courts.
The Tracy Miller Harassment Verdict
The first of the employee cases to reach a jury was brought by Tracy Miller, a former senior assistant district attorney who spent decades in the office. Miller alleged she was harassed and forced into retirement after trying to protect younger female prosecutors who had reported sexual harassment by Gary LoGalbo, a high-ranking supervisor and the best man at Spitzer’s wedding.
Miller sued the County of Orange, Spitzer, and former Chief Assistant DA Shawn Nelson. Her specific claims included that Spitzer showed a video of a prosecutor performing “pole fitness” at an executive meeting and suggested her job was in jeopardy, referred to female managers as “babysitters,” restricted Miller from speaking in meetings without permission, and threatened to eliminate a youth anti-gang program she had founded. Miller also alleged that after an outside counsel report substantiated the harassment claims against LoGalbo, Spitzer sent the document to the entire office, effectively identifying the accusers. A follow-up review found that circulating the report violated county policy.
After a nearly four-week trial, a jury in June 2025 found that Spitzer and Nelson had harassed Miller into retirement and that the county failed to stop it. The jury awarded Miller $3 million in economic damages and imposed $25,000 in punitive damages against Spitzer personally. The jury found that Nelson did not act with malice. In December 2025, the court added $1,542,215 in attorney’s fees, also payable from the county’s general fund. Testifying at trial, Spitzer said the punitive damages award would affect his family’s finances.
The Bethel Cope-Vega Verdict
Eight months later, a second San Diego County jury sided with prosecutor Bethel Cope-Vega, awarding her $3.5 million on February 17, 2026. Cope-Vega worked near LoGalbo’s office and alleged a pattern of daily sexual harassment beginning in 2019. She described LoGalbo leering at her openly enough that coworkers noticed, commenting on her clothing, calling her at night to ask what she was wearing, and making graphic sexual remarks.
Cope-Vega testified that she feared reporting the conduct to human resources would be “career suicide” because of LoGalbo’s personal relationship with Spitzer. An outside investigator, attorney Elisabeth A. Frater, had produced a 162-page report in May 2021 that sustained the harassment claims against LoGalbo, documenting “lewd and inappropriate sexual and racial comments.” LoGalbo retired while the investigation was still open and has since died. Orange County Supervisor Don Wagner said the county intends to appeal the Cope-Vega verdict, citing evidentiary issues at trial.
Settlements Paid to Other Employees
Beyond the two jury verdicts, Orange County has paid several other current and former DA office employees to resolve claims tied to Spitzer’s tenure.
Damon Tucker — $2 million. Tucker, a veteran DA investigator hired in 2003, alleged he was fired in December 2020 for uncovering what he believed was criminal conduct by Spitzer, including money laundering, solicitation of bribes, and extortion. An arbitrator found in January 2022 that the county lacked “reasonable cause” to terminate Tucker and that the process was “far from fair.” The Board of Supervisors approved a $2 million settlement in August 2024 by a 3-0 vote. Tucker agreed to retire and enter a non-disparagement agreement with Spitzer. Spitzer denied Tucker’s allegations, calling them “an orchestrated act of utter desperation.”
Jennifer Kearns — $2.75 million. Kearns, a DA office investigator, alleged that Spitzer colluded with defense attorneys to sabotage the prosecution of Dr. Grant Robicheaux and Cerissa Riley, a Newport Beach couple charged with sexually assaulting seven women. The Board of Supervisors approved the settlement on a 3-2 vote in March 2026. Kearns agreed to resign upon receiving the payout.
Two unnamed prosecutors — $1.3 million combined. In 2025, two women settled pending lawsuits against the county for a combined $1.3 million, alleging Spitzer retaliated against them for reporting workplace harassment.
The Racial Justice Act Finding in the Jamon Buggs Case
Some of the workplace lawsuits trace back to an October 2021 meeting of eight prosecutors called to discuss whether to seek the death penalty against Jamon Buggs, a Black man charged with murder whose ex-girlfriend was white. According to a memo by Senior Assistant DA Ebrahim Baytieh, Spitzer told the group he knew “many black people who get themselves out of their bad circumstances and bad situations by only dating white women.” Spitzer did not deny making a comment about race but described it differently, saying he had told the group he had “seen Black men date white women in certain circles in order to have others around them be more accepting.”
Baytieh and at least one other prosecutor wrote internal memos arguing the comments had to be disclosed to the defense under Brady v. Maryland. An Orange County Superior Court judge later found Spitzer had violated California’s Racial Justice Act through his statements, making him the first district attorney in the state personally found in violation of the law. Spitzer walled off himself and everyone at the meeting from the case, reassigned it, and dropped the death penalty pursuit in January 2022.
In February 2022, Spitzer fired Baytieh, citing an unrelated internal investigation into Baytieh’s failure to disclose informant evidence in a 2010 murder case. The timing drew scrutiny because the firing came shortly before Baytieh could file paperwork to run for judge, and the prosecutor unions publicly questioned whether it was “anything other than politically motivated.” In a February 2022 letter, the Association of Orange County Deputy District Attorneys and the Orange County Attorneys Association wrote that Spitzer had created a culture causing a “mass exodus” of staff and asked whether he would step down if a majority of line prosecutors voted no confidence in his leadership.
The ACLU Public Records Lawsuit
On a separate track, Spitzer’s office lost a public records case brought by a coalition including the ACLU Foundations of Southern and Northern California, Chicanxs Unidxs de Orange County, and the Peace and Justice Law Center. The coalition sued in October 2022 under the California Public Records Act after Spitzer, shortly after the Racial Justice Act took effect in early 2021, implemented an office-wide policy prohibiting public access to the prosecutorial data needed to monitor the law’s enforcement.
In August 2023, Orange County Superior Court Judge Schwarm ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor, and Spitzer’s attorneys agreed to produce the data within 30 days rather than contest the ruling. The release ultimately included more than 200 Excel spreadsheets containing millions of data points on charging, conviction, and sentencing practices spanning more than a decade. In March 2025, a judge issued a further ruling that Spitzer and the DA’s office had unlawfully withheld these records and maintained a “policy of not complying with the Public Records Act” for roughly two and a half years.
What the County Has Done About It
After the $3 million Miller verdict in June 2025, the Orange County Board of Supervisors moved to remove the DA office’s internal human resources department and fold it into the county’s central administration. The board finalized the transition on August 12, 2025, affecting eight staff positions. Board Chair Doug Chaffee called it an “important revision” made “in light of some litigation,” intended to ensure employees felt safe reporting misconduct through a centralized system rather than through the DA’s own staff. Spitzer publicly supported the move, calling centralized HR a “best practice.” Vice Chair Katrina Foley said in a statement, “The jury’s verdict was clear. I take very seriously my legal duty as a County Supervisor to ensure our elected department heads comply with our Equal Employment Opportunity Policy.”
Spitzer, first inaugurated as Orange County District Attorney on January 7, 2019, won reelection in June 2022 with more than 62 percent of the vote. A subsequent state law shifting DA elections to presidential years extended his term through at least 2028. During the Miller trial, Spitzer testified that he does not intend to run for reelection.