Deputy public defender suing for gender bias accused of sarcasm, veiled threats

SACRAMENTO -- On the third day of a retaliation and wrongful termination trial, the chief deputy public defender of El Dorado County testified Wednesday that the plaintiff, who claims the office purged male attorneys, was a sarcastic and sometimes threatening presence in the office.

Former deputy public defender Todd E. Jones of Placerville claims El Dorado County Public Defender Teri M. Monterosso has mismanaged the office and discriminated against male attorneys. Jones resigned in 2017, but claims he did so under duress. Jones v. County of El Dorado, 17CV02128 (E.D. Cal., filed Oct. 13, 2017).

Monterosso's chief deputy, Timothy R. Pappas, took the stand the entire morning. Jones' attorney, Douglas E. Watts of Watts Law Offices in Folsom, repeatedly tried to pin Pappas down with questions designed to show bias against his client. But Pappas instead portrayed Jones as part of a group of malcontents who rebelled against long overdue changes.

For instance, Watts tried to use an incident when Jones and another attorney did not show up in court for a client's arraignment to show attorneys were badly overworked. Watts said Jones and the other lawyer were at the county jail visiting clients, and the workload forced Jones into needing to be "two places at once."

Pappas replied that Jones often left work by 2 p.m.. Some of these times Jones claimed to be visiting defendants in jail but wasn't, he added.

"He disappeared all afternoon," Pappas said. "We had no idea where he was. The jail has logs. He was not at the jail."

Watts then attempted to show Pappas and Monterosso were intentionally creating a paper trail with the intent of terminating Jones, but Pappas pushed back on this as well.

"A manager's job is to redirect an employee, so it never goes to discipline," Pappas said.

Eventually U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez interrupted the exchange and sent the jury out on break. Then he told Watts to hurry up. "This is painfully slow and not getting to any of the core issues in the case," Mendez warned. "This isn't going anywhere."

When the jury returned, Watts asked Pappas about his concerns about several office-wide emails sent by Jones, in particular over Pappas' efforts to update the office's policy and procedures manual.

Pappas repeatedly said these emails fit a wider pattern of "sarcastic" responses to managers but added he was worried about Jones' "intent."

"I didn't know," Pappas said. "I was concerned it could be violent."

Jones was eventually put on leave after a review by the county's threat assessment team, Pappas testified.

The county's attorney, C. Christine Maloney, then led Pappas through a series of questions designed to illustrate a pattern of increasing defiance and anger toward Monterosso and Pappas. The partner with Maloney Employment Law in Mill Valley focused on emails in which Jones pledged to comply with policies as he "understood them."

In another set of emails, Jones allegedly referenced several people in the office who had military or police backgrounds. Pappas testified this was a way for Jones to bring up an accidental shooting Pappas was involved in as a Torrance Police officer in 1988. Pappas and two other officers were fired for lying about the incident, according to newspaper reports from the time. He testified Wednesday he was also convicted of a misdemeanor in connection with the shooting but said this was later expunged.

"It was a direct shot across the bow," Pappas said of Jones' emails. "There would be no reason to send this to the entire office if he didn't want to embarrass me."