LA Sparks Doctor Alleges Former Housekeeper Stole Watch

SANTA MONICA - The team doctor for the Los Angeles Sparks is suing a former housekeeper, alleging she took an expensive watch from his home.

Dr. Daniel Kharrazi's Santa Monica Superior Court lawsuit against Ana Gloria Lopez alleges theft by false pretenses, breach of the duty of loyalty, theft and violation of state Labor Code provisions. Kharrazi seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

The suit filed Friday alleges Lopez, who could not immediately be reached for comment, may have been aided in the theft by others whose identifications are currently unknown to Kharrazi.

Lopez was hired by Kharrazi and his wife in October 2018 to act as a live-in housekeeper to provide day-to-day household support for the couple and their children at their Beverly Hills residence, according to the lawsuit, which says she usually worked from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., was paid for all hours worked and was allowed to take meal and rest breaks.

In late August 2019, Kharrazi says he realized that his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak self-winding watch, which he received in November 2010 as an anniversary present, was missing from its case that was kept in the private upstairs bathroom he shares with his wife. No one other than Kharrazi, his family and Lopez had access to the area, the suit states.

When Kharrazi asked Lopez about the watch, which was valued at more than $25,000, she "immediately became panicked, hostile and began behaving in an erratic and highly guilty fashion," according to the suit, which says she left and never returned to work.

Kharrazi believes Lopez stole his watch to "cause personal and financial harm" to the physician, according to his court papers, which allege she "fabricated excessive and false on-the-job injuries in order to pursue frivolous and workers' compensation claims" against him, as she had allegedly done to previous employers.

- City News Service