Embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus has filed a $10 million claim against the county, alleging gender and racial discrimination after the county released a report last November containing scathing findings about her administration.
The county hired retired Judge LaDoris Cordell to conduct an investigation into Corpus after multiple sheriff’s deputies came forward with complaints of retaliation and an inappropriate relationship between Corpus and her Chief of Staff, Victor Aenlle.
The result was a 400-page report full of interviews with current and past employees that sustained allegations of abuse of power, retaliation, intimidation, homophobia and racism in Corpus’ office.
Since then, a growing list of local and state politicians, the Board of Supervisors, the San Carlos City Council, and unions representing sheriff’s deputies in the county have all urged Corpus to step down. She has remained defiant and even had Carlos Tapia, one of her biggest critics and union president, arrested on charges that were later dropped by the District Attorney’s Office.
Now Corpus has hired employment and civil rights attorney Bradley Gage, who filed a claim against the county on Dec. 3. Gage alleges that Corpus “has been the victim of discrimination, harassment and defamation” for being Latina.
“There are some who unfortunately still believe that law enforcement is a white man’s world,” the claim alleges. “They have tried to spread false and salacious rumors about Sheriff Corpus. Some of those detractors do not like the fact that she is the first female and first Latin X Sheriff in the 167-year history of the Sheriff’s Department.”
Corpus has previously affirmed this argument, saying that she was targeted by a “good old boy system.”
“I am a woman of color who has gone up the ranks in a male-dominated field,” Corpus said in a November press conference after Tapia was arrested.
‘Baseless and a distraction’
The county hit back in response to the claim in a statement on Tuesday, saying that the allegations are “baseless and a distraction.”
“The government claim, which includes wrong and misspelled names — including that of the sheriff herself and Supervisor Noelia Corzo — is largely devoid of any alleged facts supporting its conclusions and egregiously accuses Judge LaDoris Cordell of partaking in what the claim calls an ‘evil scheme,’” said the county. “Cordell is a highly respected former judicial official with decades of public service, including in ensuring law enforcement accountability.”
The claim also alleges that County Executive Mike Callagy and Supervisor Corzo defamed Corpus and “violated the rights afforded to all peace officers in the State of California by releasing confidential and one-sided investigations of Sheriff Corpus.”
Corzo, who is Latina, has been one of the main spokespersons for the investigation along with Supervisor Ray Mueller. However, Mueller was not named in the claim and the Board of Supervisors released the investigation as one body.
Corzo, Callagy and County Attorney John Nibbelin did not respond to requests for comment by Tuesday evening.
Corpus and Gage were supposed to hold a press conference on Monday to further explain the allegations in the claim. However, it was abruptly cancelled so that they could gather more information to build their case, Gage said in an interview.
One of the aspects in their case was determining what information was not initially made public in the report, Gage said.
When the 408-page report was first released in November, it was missing 29 pages. The bulk of the missing pages came from Aenlle’s interview with Cordell.
Some of the allegations against Aenlle that Cordell sustained include that he had a conflict of interest when negotiating the lease for a new substation and that he was not authorized to wear a gold badge as sworn employees do.
Missing pages — and motives
On Tuesday, the county also responded to the claim by releasing the full report, which now contains a total of 442 pages. They said that withholding the 29 pages from the initial report was done because it was not relevant to the sustained findings.
“Twenty-nine pages of the transcript were not included in the exhibit because they were not cited by Cordell nor were they material to the report,” the county said in Tuesday’s press release. “There was nothing nefarious about these pages not having been included in the exhibit but, given the interest in them, as mentioned, they are now available on the county’s website.”
Some of the pages that were initially missing from Aenlle’s interview contain statements of him denying wrongdoing involved in real estate deals for the Sheriff’s Office.
Before working in the sheriff’s office, Aenlle primarily worked as a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Realty. While working as the chief of staff, Aenlle helped negotiate the lease for a new substation, which was brokered by Coldwell Banker Realty.
“I’ve never benefited from any deals or been representing myself as a broker or an agent at all whatsoever,” Aenlle said, according to page 49 of his interview with Cordell.
Other pages contain explanations Aenlle made in describing why he thinks he’s allowed to wear a gold badge.
“All sworn personnel and civilian staff have gold badges. I have directors that work way below me that have a gold badge. So, again, this is a misconception,” Aenlle said in his interview with Cordell on page 106. “In this department, we have civilian directors that have gold badges. We have reserves that have gold badges … I’m still listed as a reserve in this department.”
Gage says that the Board is relying on the report as part of an “evil scheme” to remove her from office, which the Board does not currently have the authority to do.