Micha Star Liberty

Liberty is a Democrat — just like the defendants in many of her cases.

“There are no sacred cows,” said the founder of Liberty Law Group in Oakland. “If discrimination, harassment and abuse needs to be rooted out, even in institutions or organizations that I might otherwise have an affinity for, I’m going to take the case. Because I think that our public entities and our political system deserves better.”

Liberty is a plaintiff’s attorney who mainly pursues sexual harassment, abuse and retaliation cases. She’s taken on school districts, police departments and resorts. But it’s her criticism — and legal battles — with Democratic politicians that have probably won her the most notice.

Perhaps she was fated to take on the powers in the Democratic Party. Before she attended law school, Liberty was an intern in the Bill Clinton administration and slightly knew Monica Lewinsky, though she had no idea about their affair at the time.

In January, Liberty obtained a $350,000 settlement from the California State Legislature for a former employee who claimed she was fired and retaliated against for reporting an alleged rape by another staffer. This was one of the largest settlements ever paid out by the body.

Along the way, she had to beat back the Legislature’s governmental immunity claims and saw the defense reveal her client’s real name in court documents. Jane Doe v. California State Senate, 00232257 (Sac. Super. Ct., filed May 2, 2018).

Another case, Adriana Ruelas v. California State Senate, 00230185 (Sac. Super. Ct., filed April 3, 2018), is moving towards a trial date. It involves a former Senate staffer who said she was fired for reporting a legislator’s harassment of her coworker.

What these cases have in common, Liberty said, it that they don’t involve individual bad actors as much as the systems designed to protect the powerful. In most cases, she’s suing not over the harassment or abuse itself, but over the actions taken by employers against someone who speaks out.

“For every perpetrator that gets weeded out, there are hundreds more that the system in protecting,” Liberty said.

— Malcolm Maclachlan