Curtin v. County of Orange

Sexual Assault and Monell Liability

Central District

U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson

Plaintiff’s Lawyers: Daniel K. Balaban, Balaban & Spielberger LLP; Holly N. Boyer, Shea S. Murphy, Esner Chang & Boyer; R. Browne Greene, Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP; Jeremy D. Jass, Jass Law; Philip K. Cohen, Philip Kent Cohen APC

Defense Lawyers: Dana A. Fox, Barry Hassenberg, Dawn M. Flores-Oster, Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP; Thomas R. Chapin, Law Offices of Thomas R. Chapin

Weeks before Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo tsunami broke in the fall of 2017, Daniel K. Balaban and his team foreshadowed the powerful new movement to hold powerful institutions accountable for sexual abuse.

In August, a federal jury took fewer than 30 minutes of deliberations to award plaintiff Alexa Curtin $2.25 million in damages for her claim that an on-duty sheriff’s deputy raped her in Dana Point just two months after another woman accused the same deputy of sexual assault.

The verdict held the Orange County Sheriff’s Department accountable for enforcing a policy that blocked an internal affairs investigator from taking any action for seven months against a deputy twice accused of sexual assault.

Balaban said the outcome was doubly important. First was establishing the plaintiff’s Monell claim, named for a 1978 federal case, which sought to hold county government responsible for the deputy’s action.

“It’s very rare to successfully run the procedural gauntlet to prove the policy of a police department caused a heinous sexual assault,” he said. “We set a precedent here, and in today’s society it’s particularly relevant to the whole sexual assault conversation that’s going on.”

Second was Curtin’s successful use of the courts, Balaban said.

“The case shows the power of the civil justice system to vindicate a woman of courage,” he said. “People who were supposed to protect her didn’t.”

The trial exposed internal Orange County documents, previously sealed, which the Curtin trial team argued showed the sheriff’s department attempted to cover up a serious crime, according to Balaban. The documents also showed that the department turned a blind eye to a known sexual predator on the force. Because of department policies, the officer was able to assault at least four other women, he added.

“No other employer would allow a policy to exist like the one this sheriff’s department had,” Balaban said. “Although it is extremely difficult and rare to prove Monell liability, we did show that the department’s policy led to a violation of Ms. Curtin’s constitutional rights and that the department was deliberately indifferent to her rights.” So clear was the plaintiff team’s presentation of the evidence in pretrial motions that U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson ruled the policy existed as a matter of law.

“This verdict is an example of how victims of sexual abuse can fight back through the civil justice system to hold a public entity responsible for its misdeeds, and it will hopefully compel authorities to change their internal policies to help prevent this from happening to any other young woman in the future,” Balaban said.

The case has not settled, Balaban said. The defendant has not appealed as of press time.

— John Roemer