Therese Y. Cannata

Cannata acquired significant jury trial experience as a senior trial attorney at the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office in the early 1980s. In 2003, she founded Cannata, O’Toole, Fickes & Almazan LLP.

Recently, Cannata served as lead counsel in a case involving plaintiff Joanne Hoeper, former chief trial deputy attorney at the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office. After receiving a tip from the FBI regarding potential illegal conduct in December 2011, Hoeper and her investigative team spent three months interviewing witnesses and reviewing hundreds of claim files.

The team provided their preliminary findings to the city attorney, Dennis Herrera, of an illegal scheme within his own office’s claim unit, paying false claims to plumbers and contractors for repairs to sewer lines in San Francisco.

Herrera allegedly instructed Hoeper to continue her investigation, but began working behind the scenes to shut down Hoeper’s investigation and have her fired.

In July 2015, Herrera informed Hoeper that she would be removed from her current position and temporarily transferred to the District Attorney’s office before being fired in January 2014.

The defense argued that Herrera had been unhappy with Hoeper’s performance for years, that she was not a whistleblower, and that her seven-month investigation, involving over 1,100 hours of labor and three city attorney’s office investigators resulted in no evidence.

After a trial spanning several weeks, the jury awarded Hoeper $2 million. Hoeper v. Herrera et al., CGC-15-543553 (San Francisco Super. Ct. March 17, 2017).

“We are pleased with the verdict,” Cannata said. “The city has fired an appeal and we are confident with our success on the appeal.” A decision on attorney fees in the case is pending.

— Skylar Dubelko