Lewd Comments, Unwanted Touching: Alleged Sexual Harassment in the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office

A veteran prosecutor was sued this week by two female deputy district attorneys who allege he sexually harassed them and gave choice assignments to other women in his unit who allowed him to engage in similar conduct with them.

Beth Silverman and Tannaz Mokayef filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that they were subjected to unwanted touching and lewd remarks while working for Deputy District Attorney Gary Hearnsberger in the elite Major Crimes Division.

The plaintiffs, whose suit also names the county, are seeking unspecified damages.

Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, declined to respond, saying the office does not comment on pending litigation.

The suit states that Hearnsberger was named head of the Major Crimes Division in 2011, putting him in charge of a unit that prosecutes high-profile homicide cases.

“Hearnsberger ... created an environment of sexual favoritism in which the female attorneys in the unit who engaged in sexually explicit banter with him ... and/or provided sexual favors to him, were assigned cases and given opportunities for career advancement,” the suit alleges.

Between 2011 and this year, Hearnsberger “subjected plaintiff Silverman to offensive comments about women he disliked, including other women in the Major Crimes Division,” the suit alleges. He also made sexually explicit gestures toward Silverman and would sit close to her on a couch he had in his office, the suit states.

Hearnsberger regularly walked behind Silverman so he could then place his hands on her hips or buttocks while leaving the office or crossing the street, the suit alleges.

After Silverman rejected Hearnsberger’s advances, he cursed at her in front of colleagues, criticized her work ethic and personality and denied her case assignments, the suit alleges.

Mokayef joined the Major Crimes Division in 2014 and also was subjected to similar unwanted touching by Hearnsberger, the suit alleges.

“On multiple occasions, Hearnsberger approached (Mokayef) and told her that she smelled good, or words to that effect,” the complaint alleges.

Mokayef alleges that after she rejected Hearnsberger’s advances and touching, he assigned her only stale investigations, subjected her to verbal abuse and screamed at her.

Although Hearnsberger was moved to the Public Integrity Division after Silverman and Mokayef filed complaints with the state Department of Fair Employment and Housing, he has still not been disciplined and continues “participating in and/or controlling cases within the Major Crimes Division,” according to the suit.

--City News Service; Photo Patch Archive

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