What We’re Learning About Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Top Mayoral Aide

The attorney for two witnesses in a sexual harassment lawsuit against the city says her clients’ testimony backs up allegations of inappropriate conduct by a longtime advisor to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. KPCC/LAist senior politics reporter broke the story on Tuesday afternoon. “My clients are whistleblowers… who saw time and time again that the allegations in the lawsuit were accurate in the sense that they witnessed sexual harassment, groping and other inappropriate sexually-based misconduct in the workplace,” said Micha Star Liberty, who represents two former Mayor’s office employees deposed in the lawsuit. “They also saw retaliation and intimidation when people wanted to come forward and complain,” Liberty added. KPCC/LAist agreed to withhold the names of her clients until their testimony is unsealed by the court. LAPD officer Matthew Garza sued the city last July, saying Garcetti’s former deputy chief of staff, Rick Jacobs, routinely forced unwanted touching by hugging, grabbing his biceps, and massaging his shoulders — and subjected him to crude jokes and explicit descriptions of sexual topics. Garza says Jacobs’ behavior was often in the presence of the Mayor, who allegedly did nothing to stop the harassment. Today on AirTalk, we’ll talk to Libby about her reporting. For more on this story from Libby, click here. With guest host Sharon McNary Guest: Libby Denkmann, senior reporter covering politics for KPCC and LAist; she tweets @libdenk