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A lawsuit filed against the late Wayne Rogers by a onetime actress who says the former “M*A*S*H” star fathered her son and shirked his support obligations will continue despite the actor’s death, an attorney for the woman said.

Melinda Naud filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2013 against Rogers, who died Thursday at age 82 of complications from pneumonia. Rogers played “Trapper John” McIntyre on the long-running CBS series.

Naud , 55, who had roles on such TV shows as “Happy Days” and “Operation Petticoat,” alleges breach of contract, fraud, concealment and false promise. “The case brought by Melinda Naud on behalf of Wayne’s son, Luigi Calabrese, will proceed against the estate,” Naud’s attorney, Steven Haney, said Saturday. He said a judge is scheduled to hear a motion March 10 to determine paternity. Rogers and Naud had a written agreement for support in which the actor agreed to take a paternity test within 30 days of a demand by her lawyers, according to Haney.

A demand was made on Rogers months ago, Haney said. The agreement states that if Rogers refuses or fails to take the test, he is deemed to be Calabrese’s father, according to Haney.

“We are confident that we will prevail,” Haney said.

Rogers’ attorney, Bryan Freedman, said he hopes Naud shows some discretion.

“Wayne was a fantastic actor and an incredibly smart and honorable businessman,” Freedman said. “Let’s hope that this plaintiff understands decency.”

According to the complaint, Naud and Rogers met at a celebrity tennis tournament in 1978 and began a relationship that lasted until 1985, when she became pregnant with their son.

The suit alleges Rogers, who was married in 1988 to Amy Hirsch, “hid his relationship with Naud and his son’s existence from his wife … and pretended as if his son did not exist.

“Rogers also begged Naud to keep their son’s identity a secret as Rogers explained that his wife, Hirsch, would go crazy if she knew he had a child, as Hirsch desperately wanted a child, but could not as Rogers had a vasectomy before his marriage with her,” the plaintiff claims.

Rogers said he would cooperate to work out a support agreement for Luigi, but negotiations were difficult and a written agreement was not attained until May 1993, according to the plaintiff.

Naud says Rogers agreed to pay $75,000 immediately and to make subsequent payments for the boy’s general support as well as his college education all the way through graduate school, along with a $1 million life insurance policy.

Rogers insisted the support checks be forwarded to Naud through an intermediary, the cost of which was ultimately absorbed by her, according to the suit.

Naud also married, but her husband died in February 1997, prompting her to ask for additional child support from Rogers for Luigi, the suit says.

Rogers denied the request, but said he would set up a $1 million trust in their son’s name, provide him a home upon the actor’s death and reimburse Naud for eight years he did not pay her child support, according to the complaint.

Luigi was stricken in October 2007 with endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart lining, muscles and valves caused by bacteria, and later had to have open-heart surgery, according to the complaint.

In July 2008, Rogers called and asked about their son’s condition, and Naud told him that a second surgery was pending and that their son would need medical care for life, her suit says.

“After this phone call, Rogers cut off all communication with Naud and his son,” according to the suit. “In fact, Rogers failed to so much as pick up the phone to speak with Luigi. Rogers viewed his son as damaged goods and a financial liability.”

Despite his condition, Luigi graduated from UCLA in 2012 with a degree in history, but Rogers refused to pay for his education or for the $1 million life insurance policy, according to his mother.

Naud also alleges Rogers understated his income at the time the support agreement was entered when he said he was making $300,000 annually. Haney said Rogers was scheduled to give a deposition in the case in Florida two days before the actor’s death, but that it never took place. Freedman said that despite Naud’s allegations, Rogers was a caring person. “During his life he helped so many people, including those who unfortunately only cared about themselves,” Freedman said. “One would think that, out of respect here, enough is enough, but some people have greed beyond any and all boundaries.”

“M*A*S*H” aired from September 1972 to February 1983. In recent years, Rogers also ran an investment strategy firm and other business interests and was a stock commentator and analyst on the Fox News Channel.

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Actress Teri Polo at the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards. Photo by Greg Hernandez [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Edwin McPherson filed court papers Dec. 30 with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White asking that his case against Polo be dismissed. The request for dismissal was filed “without prejudice,” meaning the legal action can be resumed later.

A hold had been placed on the lawsuit after Polo filed for bankruptcy in June 2014.

McPherson, an attorney who represents many celebrities, sued Polo in February 2014. He alleged that the actress, now 46, signed an agreement to rent a single-family home in Manhattan Beach from him in February 2011. The lease term was to end in May 2013, according to the complaint.

Polo stopped paying her $6,500 monthly rent in July 2012 and a month later abandoned the home, leaving it in a “disgusting, deplorable condition,” the suit alleged.

Polo’s eight pets ruined brand new carpets in the home by urinating on them, according to the plaintiff.

“Polo left the sole walkway on the west side of the premises covered with dog feces, the odor of which permeated the premises and the neighborhood, to the extent that neighbors could smell the odor of feces in their own yards and homes,” the suit stated.

McPherson also alleged that Polo left numerous holes in wall, broke a closet mirror and removed many new blinds installed for her, and says he spent nearly $10,000 fixing the damage.

His lawsuit sought more than $30,000, plus interest.

Polo played the role of Pam Focker in “Meet the Parents” and its sequels, “Meet the Fockers” and “Little Fockers.” She currently stars in “The Fosters” on the ABC Family network.

—City News Service

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LAPD patch. Photo by MyNewsLA.com

The Los Angeles City Council has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to a former Westside motorcycle officer who said he was retaliated against by the Los Angeles Police Department for not participating in an illegal traffic ticket quota system.

The payment, recommended by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, was approved unanimously by the City Council, although Councilman  Bob Blumenfield was absent, the Los Angeles Times reported. The $950,000 agreement resolves a 2014 lawsuit filed in L.A. County Superior Court by Dan Gregg, a former officer with the LAPD’s West Traffic Division.

Gregg alleged his supervisor, Capt. Nancy Lauer, required officers in the division to write a set number of traffic tickets during each shift, establishing a quota system that violated state law, The Times reported. Gregg’s job included assigning other officers’ overtime, and, beginning in 2009, Lauer instructed him to deny overtime to those who did not meet their quotas, the lawsuit said.

Gregg said in the lawsuit that he was denied a promotion after complaining about the alleged quota system.

In 2011, Gregg testified on behalf of two veteran motorcycle officers, Howard Chan and David Benioff, who made similar allegations against Lauer and members of her command staff in a separate lawsuit. A jury awarded Chan and Benioff $2 million combined, according to The Times.

After Gregg testified, his supervisors punished him by denying him overtime, filing a bogus internal affairs complaint, placing him on involuntary leave and wrongfully firing him, his lawsuit alleged.

In December 2013, the City Council agreed to pay $5.9 million to a group of 11 West Traffic Division motorcycle officers who also alleged retaliation and other workplace misconduct tied to the ticket controversy. The ticket quota cases have cost more than $10 million in taxpayer money spent on payouts and legal fees, The Times reported.

—City News Service

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Photo courtesy Uber

Uber is being sued by a passenger who alleges he was sexually assaulted by a male driver.

Damian Becerra filed the lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging sexual assault and battery, false imprisonment, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. Becerra also is suing the driver, who is identified only as David Doe.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

An Uber representative could not be immediately reached.

Uber represents that is drivers are honest, properly screened and adequately trained and supervised, the suit states. Becerra made arrangements with Uber on Oct. 19 for transportation within Los Angeles County, according to the complaint.

However, the unidentified driver locked Becerra in the Uber car, took him to a location where the plaintiff did not intend to go and sexually assaulted him, the suit states.

Becerra suffered bodily injury as well as emotional distress from the ordeal, the complaint alleges.

—City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A member of Los Lonely Boys, who’s suing the managers of the Downey Civic Theatre over injuries he suffered during an on- stage fall in 2013, says in new court papers that he thought a bomb exploded in the arena just before the accident.

Singer/guitarist Henry Garza and the band, along with his wife, Roxann, filed the negligence suit in August 2014 in Los Angeles Superior Court against VenueTech Management Group. Roxann Garza is suing for loss of consortium.

“I remember going unconscious and I remember when I tried to come to, my immediate thought in my brain was there’s a bomb here,” Garza states in a deposition. “I couldn’t figure out where I was, what was wrong, what happened or anything. I had no clue.”

The San Angelo, Texas-based group consists of Garza and his two brothers, Jojo and Ringo. They play a style of music they dub “Texican Rock and Roll.”

Los Lonely Boys played the Downey venue on Feb. 27, 2013. Prior to the show, the group’s tour manager issued instructions that the floor of the orchestra pit be raised to the same level of the stage so that Garza could make his customary move toward the audience at the end of the show to greet fans, according to the complaint.

“Contrary to those instructions, the orchestra pit was not raised,” the lawsuit states. “Instead, the top of the pit was approximately six feet below the level of the performance stage.”

When Garza moved toward the fans at the end of the show, he fell into the orchestra pit and was seriously injured, according to the suit, which says he was later hospitalized.

VenueTech also failed to put reflective tape to mark the edge of the stage and did not provide sufficient lighting, the suit alleges.

Los Lonely Boys was forced to cancel 43 shows because of Garza’s injuries, the suit states.

Portions of Garza’s deposition are included in his attorneys’ opposition to a VenueTech motion to dismiss the band’s claim for $900,000 in lost profits. Defense attorneys state that Texas law applies and that the group cannot recover lost profits based upon personal injuries suffered by one of their members.

According to Garza, the final song the band played the night of his accident was “Heaven,” for which the band won a Grammy in 2005. He said the group uses the hit single to close most of its shows.

“That’s our — the song that made us known across the world,” Garza testified.

Garza says he and his friends were bowing and preparing to shake hands with members of the audience when the accident occurred.

“And the next thing I remember was an incredible amount of pressure on my face and a horrific crunch in my back and it felt like my legs were up to my ears,” Garza says. “But it happened so fast that I was standing on the stage, bowing, went to shake hands, next thing you know I felt pressure on my face and my back was broken.”

Garza testified that when he regained consciousness, “everything was kind of frozen. I couldn’t breathe. When I looked in my hands I kept hearing this noise in my head like electricity going off. It sounded like a bunch of bees.”

The entertainer said he tried to get up.

“I pushed myself up off the ground and my legs didn’t want to work,” he testified “And they — they went out from under me. Like my knees didn’t want to work and I fell down again.”

Garza said he remembers hearing his brother Jojo “screaming” and yelling out his name, but added he does not recall leaving the arena.

“I can’t remember getting out of there,” he says. “I can’t remember really getting into the ambulance. So many things happened so fast and things were going on so much that … I don’t know how to say, but I felt like I was inside myself, but not inside myself. I remember just trying to keep calm because my brothers were freaking out.”

Garza says his homecoming was memorable.

“My wife and my kids were there and they were just crying and scared,” he says. “And I still have that like — they’re like burnt images that are there, like I see them, but they are so dreamy that it doesn’t — doesn’t feel real, you know?”

—City News Service

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Photo by inboundpass [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

A judge Tuesday dismissed a defamation suit by Manny Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning coach, who alleged Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach made false statements implying that the plaintiff gave fighters performance-enhancing drugs.

Los Angeles Superior Court Dalila Corral Lyons found that Roach’s statements were protected speech.

“It explicitly says it’s his opinion,” Lyons said.

The lawsuit, filed in April 2014 by Alex Ariza, alleged Roach slandered him in a video interview three months earlier with reporter Radio Rahim that was posted on the Internet.

In the interview, Roach was asked about fighter Brandon Rios failing a steroid test. Referring to Ariza, Roach replied, “I know he has a new strength coach and I don’t get along with the guy.”

Roach also talked about Ariza’s work with Pacquiao.

“He used to give (Pacquiao) a drink every day before we worked out and I asked him, ‘What’s in that drink?,’ and he would never tell me,” Roach stated, adding that he, not Ariza, would be blamed if something went wrong.

“So, in my opinion, he’s a little shady, so he’s with that camp now and it doesn’t surprise me that happened,” Roach said.

Roach’s attorneys stated in their court papers that their client’s comments were “nothing more than his personal opinions and reactions to current, newsworthy topics.”

Roach’s lawyer, Arthur Chapman, praised the judge’s ruling.

“I’m sure Mr. Roach will be pleased to hear the result,” Chapman said.

–City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

An 80-year-old man is suing the producers of the reality show “Hot Shots,” alleging synthetic material made to resemble vomit was mistakenly shot onto his face during his work as an extra.

Lawrence Loughlin filed the negligence lawsuit Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court against EFS Entertainment. He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

An EFS representative could not be immediately reached.

According to the complaint, Loughlin’s role on Feb. 26, 2015, was to sit in a restaurant booth in Westwood pretending to have a meal with several other people. A man sitting in the next booth was supposed to turn toward the plaintiff’s booth and pretend to vomit on the table, the suit says.

During the final take, the company used a device that projected the fake vomit with the intent of making it appear it came from the other man’s mouth, according to the lawsuit.

“However, instead of going onto the unoccupied seat across from plaintiff, or even on the table in front of him, the vomit-like material shot directly onto plaintiff’s face,” the suit alleges.

Loughlin was “in shock” and was taken to a hospital emergency room, where he was diagnosed with an anxiety attack, according to his court papers. He says he was later driven home by the same production staff member who took him to the hospital.

Loughlin suffered “significant back discomfort” from the incident and still has not been paid for his work that day, according to his complaint.

—Staff and wire reports

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Photo via Pixabay

A judge ruled that Ryan O’Neal can move forward with his lawsuit against the former trustee of Farrah Fawcett’s living trust over a protracted legal battle with the University of Texas for possession of an Andy Warhol portrait of the late actress.

O’Neal, 74, filed suit against accountant Richard Bernard Francis and his companies, Francis Property Management Inc. and Richard B. Francis LLC, on Oct. 2. The suit alleges Francis put his interests ahead of those of O’Neal, for whom Francis worked for decades as the actor’s business manager.

In her ruling, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Feffer rejected arguments by attorneys for Francis and his companies that the lawsuit was filed too late. She also disagreed with attorney Michael Taitelman, who represents the Francis entities, that the companies are not liable for any actions Francis may have taken.

“The pleadings are sufficient at this stage,” Feffer said. “Whether a jury buys it may be a different story.”

Both O’Neal and Fawcett — who had an on-again, off-again relationship that produced a son — had Warhol paintings of the actress.

Before she died of cancer in June 2009, Fawcett bequeathed all of her original artwork, as well as a second Warhol portrait of the actress that also was created by the artist in 1980, to the university that the Texas-born beauty attended for several years in the 1960s.

O’Neal’s suit alleges that when the University of Texas threatened to sue Francis to obtain the actor’s Fawcett portrait, Francis settled with the school rather than invoke a no-contest provision in the trust that would have forced UT to reconsider its legal move.

The trust’s no-contest provision “was a powerful tool to be used by the trustee against beneficiaries like UT who challenged the trustee’s actions,” the suit alleges.

By settling with the university, Francis escaped liability for himself and left it up to O’Neal to defend himself in the suit the university brought against him for return of the portrait, the suit alleges.

Attorney Todd Eagan, on behalf of O’Neal, said Francis should have told the actor of his plans to settle with the university. He also said O’Neal’s claims were not time-barred.

In December 2013, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that O’Neal’s Warhol portrait of Fawcett belonged to him. O’Neal insisted the Warhol piece was given to him as a gift by the late artist and that Fawcett and her friends knew he was the owner when she died.

—City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

A hospital patient who stuck pencils in her eyes in a suicide attempt, then found out that a photo of her self-mutilation turned up on the Internet three years later, has agreed to settle the part of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County and one of its nurses, her attorney said Wednesday.

Douglas Johnson, who represents the 24-year-old plaintiff, told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White that the proposed resolution would remove the county and nurse Shannon Lipham as defendants in the case.

The case will proceed against nurse Kristin Ciasulli, who the plaintiff accuses of taking the photo at County-USC Medical Center, and Ciasulli’s then- employer, HRN Services Inc., Johnson said.

Johnson declined to state the amount of the settlement, but noted it would be public information if the Board of Supervisors approves it.

He praised the county’s lawyers for working with him toward a resolution of the case, which was filed in October 2014 and identifies the plaintiff only as Jane Doe.

“I absolutely think it was the right thing to do and I was impressed with the compassion they showed for my client,” Johnson said.

During today’s hearing, the judge said Johnson needs to shore up only one of the four allegations against HRN Services — intentional infliction of emotional distress. Johnson said the problem with the complaint can be easily fixed.

The attorney also said he was pleased that the judge found the details behind the other three allegations — negligent infliction of emotional distress, intrusion upon seclusion and negligent training, supervision and retention of an employee — were sufficient, and that White rejected a defense argument that his client didn’t have an expectation of privacy in the large emergency room where her unauthorized photo was taken.

According to the complaint, the woman was admitted to the county-run hospital in June 2011 after trying to kill herself by thrusting pencils into her eyes. She survived, but was blinded.

Lipham was a relief pool nurse employed by the county who also was assigned to care for the plaintiff, according to Doe’s court papers, which say Lipham acknowledged in a June deposition that she sent the photograph to her niece, who in turn gave it to a man named Joshua Shivers, who the plaintiff’s attorneys allege posted the photo.

Ciasulli admitted during a deposition that she took a photo of the injured plaintiff and says she did so as a “teaching tool.” She says she later deleted the image and that it was not the photo that turned up on the Internet.

Up to a half-dozen other medical workers took similar images of the plaintiff when the injured La Canada Flintridge resident was brought into the County-USC Medical Center emergency room, according to Ciasulli.

Ciasulli worked at the time for HRN Services, which supplies hospitals with temporary and supplemental healthcare employees.

Shivers uploaded the image in July 2014 onto “one of the most visited shock websites in the world,” the suit says. The same day, he took credit for his actions on a social networking site, saying, “I finally made it in life. Please check out my shiz,” and included a link to the photo, according to the complaint.

A week later, he placed the same photo onto a “popular entertainment and social media website,” according to the plaintiff’s attorney, who says it has received more than 192,000 Internet views.

Ciasulli said she did not send a copy of the photo she took to Lipham.

Shivers in deposition testimony said he didn’t know how the photo he posted was taken, but said it was given to him by Alexis Brennecke Siwek, the niece of a nurse at the hospital.

—City News Service

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                                                                                                    California Attorney General Kamala Harris

The massive Porter Ranch gas leak not only harms the health of area residents, it’s so devastating that it’s contributing to global warming and threatening California’s efforts to combat climate change, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by Attorney General Kamala Harris.

Harris added her name to the list of people and government agencies suing Southern California Gas Co. over the continuing gas leak in Porter Ranch, alleging the utility violated state health and safety laws by failing to control the leak and report it to proper authorities.

The lawsuit contends that the leak at the Aliso Canyon storage facility has spewed 80,000 metric tons of methane into the atmosphere, threatening the state’s effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions.

“The impact of this unprecedented gas leak is devastating to families in our state, our environment and our efforts to combat global warming,” Harris said. “Southern California Gas Co. must be held accountable. This gas leak has caused significant damage to the Porter Ranch community as well as our statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the impacts of climate change.

“My office will continue to lead this cross-jurisdictional enforcement action to ensure justice and relief for Californians and our environment,” she said.

SoCalGas issued a statement saying the company is “working hard to both stop the leak and adress our neighbors’ concerns. Beyond that, we do not comment on pending litigation and will respond to the lawsuit through the judicial process.”

The city and county of Los Angeles have already filed suit against SoCalGas over the leak, which was discovered Oct. 23.

The Gas Co. is in the process of drilling a relief well that will intersect with the leaking pipe, allowing the company to pump material into the pipe to seal the leak. The process is expected to take until at least late February to complete.

—City News Service

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Image by Huntley Paton via Wikimedia Commons

A judge heard arguments Tuesday on separate motions to invalidate the sale of a former convent in Los Feliz to a businesswoman in favor of making it available to singer Katy Perry, but did not issue an immediate ruling.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Stephanie Bowick took the motions under submission. She did not say when she would have a decision.

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles started the litigation by filing suit against restaurant owner Dana Hollister last June. The sale to Hollister is favored by two nuns who are members of the California Institute of the Sisters of the Most Holy and Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

The nuns, Sisters Rita Callahan and Catherine Rose Holzman, also are represented individually by lawyer John Scholnick, who argued against Tuesday’s motions. He said more information-sharing — known in legal circles as “discovery” — needs to be done before Bowick can rule.

The sale to Hollister was for $10 million, of which only $100,000 has been paid, according to the archdiocese. The proposed sale to Perry would be worth $14.5 million, consisting of $10 million in cash and an agreement to provide an alternative property for the house of prayer worth $4.5 million, according to the archdiocese.

Perry filed a cross-complaint against Hollister and the archdiocese asking that a judge give the singer’s company, Bird Nest LLC, the sole right to purchase the property.

The archdiocese then filed a motion to nullify the sale to Hollister on grounds that such a transaction required approval of the archbishop and the pope.

Lawyers for Perry’s company asked in their motion that Bowick clear the way for the sale of the property to the “Roar” singer. Bird Nest attorney Eric Rowen said the sisters’ attorneys gave up part of their clients’ case last week when a petition challenging the authority of the archbishop was withdrawn.

“All they want to do is fight another day,” Rowen said. “Well, today is the end of the line.”

Archdiocese attorney J. Michael Hennigan said that all internal reviews of the matter within the church bureaucracy have been concluded, according to a document he obtained that was written in Latin.

But Scholnick said the nuns’ petition was withdrawn for tactical reasons and could be brought again depending on what is learned during further discovery. He also said he questioned whether the interpretation of the document to which Hennigan referred was translated into English accurately.

Hennigan said that if even both motions are granted, the archdiocese’s case against Hollister will continue to determine whether the plaintiffs are entitled to damages from the businesswoman.

—City News Service

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Photo via Pixabay

Go ahead, sing “Happy Birthday” from now on and you won’t have to worry about paying royalties (if you ever did).

Warner/Chappell Music has agreed to pay $14 million to end a long-running copyright dispute over royalty rights to “Happy Birthday” — billed as the most recognized song in the English language, court documents obtained Tuesday show.

The settlement, outlined in a filing Monday in Los Angeles federal court, ends the music publisher’s claim of ownership and the song would be placed in the public domain for use at no charge.

Before it can be finalized, U.S. District Judge George H. King must sign off on the agreement. A hearing is scheduled for March 14.

“We are pleased to bring this matter to resolution,” a Warner/Chappell spokeswoman said in a statement.

According to the terms of the proposed settlement, the money would be distributed among those who paid licensing fees for the song during the previous five decades.

King ruled last September that the song was not legally owned by publisher Warner/Chappell Music, but refrained from declaring the ditty to be in the public domain.

A trial would have dealt with further questions of ownership based around an appeal from a charity apparently co-founded by Patty Hill, the schoolteacher who wrote “Happy Birthday’ in the late 19th century.

Documentary filmmaker Jennifer Nelson filed suit in 2013 after she was billed $1,500 to use the composition in a film she planned to make about the song’s history.

The plaintiffs argued that Warner/Chappell should return millions of dollars collected in license fees over the years.

The music publishers reportedly collected as much as $2 million annually for use of the tune.

Warner/Chappell — which acquired the company that previously claimed ownership of the song — argued that the tune was given legal copyright protection in 1935 and the publisher has the right to collect fees on the song.

—City News Service

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Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer. MyNewsLA.com Photo

City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Wednesday the filing of a lawsuit against the operators of an alleged ring of brothels fronted by massage parlors in Eagle Rock, Wilmington and North Hollywood.

The nuisance abatement lawsuit targets Helen Haihong Huang and Mark Richard Vitatern, who operate MHWI Int’l Inc., and others believed to be associated with a ring made up of at least four businesses.

Two parlors are in Eagle Rock, one at 6630 N. Figueroa St and another at 5740 York Blvd., near the We Tell Stories art school and the Highland Park Foursquare Church, according to the city attorney.

The other businesses in Wilmington, at 1037 Avalon Blvd., and North Hollywood, at 3214 De Witt Drive, are also near churches, he said.

The lawsuit seeks orders prohibiting the operators from running similar businesses and the property owners from allowing such activity.

The lawsuit alleges the massage parlors were covers for prostitution businesses that advertised their services on the Internet and used text messages to set up appointments.

Searches by Los Angeles Police Department officers on Jan. 7 turned up a condom bin at one business and about $80,000 in cash at the home of one of the operators, according to the City Attorney’s Office.

The alleged ringleaders operated four other businesses in Los Angeles that have since shut down, following several prostitution arrests, according to Feuer.

—City News Service

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Orange County Men’s Central Jail Complex. Photo by WPPilot (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 2012

Lt. Mark Stichter noted the union presented the lawsuit to the sheriff at 5 p.m. Thursday.

“The sheriff is going to need time to review that lawsuit obviously and to be able to respond to it next week,” Stichter said.

The Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs sued Sheriff Sandra Hutchens and the county late Thursday, alleging that directives from supervisors on inmate counts and other factors related to reducing jail overcrowding statewide have made the jails unsafe for the guards.

The union says that staff reductions, including the removal of rooftop guards, have made the Men’s Central Jail unsafe. Three inmates gained access to the rooftop in making their escape last month. How the inmates managed to escape is the focus of departmental review, Stichter said.

“Stemming from that deep concern about the welfare of our employees is the reason staffing is one of the many issues that are part of the ongoing review and administrative investigation into the jail escape,” Stichter said.

One of the lawsuits more notable allegations is that the union has been “informed and therefore believes construction equipment has been inadvertently left behind by contractors inside the (Central Men’s Jail) in areas easily accessible by inmates.”

The union alleges that “Sawzall blades were discovered on two separate occasions in inmate housing locations just weeks prior to the Jan. 22, 2016, inmate escape.”

The union further alleges that deputies working in that jail were “unaware of the discovery of these dangerous and potentially deadly weapons.”

It has not been revealed what the inmates used to cut through bars and make their escape.

The lawsuit also reveals that a deputy broke his hand during a fight, which investigators have previously said may have been a diversion to aid the escape. Also, there was an in-custody death the same day as the escape, which also tied up the deputies working there, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges that the state law aimed at reducing prison populations has made facilities such as the Central Men’s Jail into a de facto prison with many more “hardened” inmates than ever before.

The jail is also more dangerous because there are less deputies on staff as guards and more civilians. Hutchens began using more civilian Correctional Services Assistants since January 2010 to hold down costs during the slumping economy, a sore point for the deputies union.

The civilians undergo much less training than deputies — 10 weeks versus six months, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges that an audit of the jail in 2008 contained many recommendations that were ignored, such as limiting one hot meal daily instead of two to cut down on the large number of inmates flowing in and out of the Chow Hall with inadequate staffing.

The lawsuit even alleges that there aren’t enough batteries to run radios the deputies use to communicate with each other.

“We have been voicing our concerns about the safety at the Central Men’s Jail for years,” said union president Tom Dominguez. “Those longstanding concerns coupled with a more violent inmate population and the recent significant staffing reductions at the Central Men’s Jail forced us to take immediate action and file this lawsuit. This is about the safety of our members, the jail staff, the inmates and ultimately the public we are sworn to protect.”

The lawsuit claims the staffing reductions violated the union’s collective bargaining agreement with management, so it seeks to have staffing increased.

—City News Service

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A young woman is suing the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, alleging her internship mentor took advantage of her vulnerability after the plaintiff’s mother died to engage her in an improper sexual relationship for two years.

The woman, now 22, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The complaint also names as defendants the city of Los Angeles, the Department of Recreation and Parks, Los Angeles County and her alleged abuser, Cora Webber of San Pedro.

The suit alleges sexual abuse of a minor, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, supervision and retention and failure to report suspected child abuse.

The complaint seeks unspecified damages. A representative of the San Pedro-based aquarium did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment. A spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office said today he could not find any criminal charges filed against Webber.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff was 16 years old when Webber was assigned to be her mentor during an internship that began at the aquarium in 2009.

“Webber was highly touted in multiple media outlets … for her mentorship of plaintiff while at Cabrillo,” the suit states. “However, unbeknownst to the media, Webber was actually providing plaintiff with alcohol and drugs and manipulating her into engaging in an illegal sexual relationship.”

Soon after her internship began, Webber began showing special interest in the plaintiff by taking her out to eat and adjusting her own schedule to allow her to spend more time with the teen, the suit alleges.

The alleged abuses of the plaintiff occurred at various places, including the aquarium, on Webber’s boat, at Webber’s mother’s home and at Webber’s parents’ vacation residence, the suit states.

“Webber was aware that plaintiff’s mother had recently died of brain cancer and used this vulnerability to her advantage,” the suit states.

Webber told the plaintiff she would not have gotten her internship without her help and warned the teen she would kill herself if the plaintiff ever left her, the suit states.

The plaintiff relocated to Seattle in 2011, but Webber continued to try and contact the woman and again threatened to commit suicide unless she stayed, the suit alleges.

“After these extensive attempts, plaintiff explicitly told Webber to stop trying to contact her or her family,” according to the lawsuit.

Some of the aquarium employees, including a lab assistant, knew of the alleged illicit relationship between Webber and the plaintiff, but did not report it to law enforcement even though they were obligated to do so under law, according to the complaint.

The aquarium management also failed to enact safeguards so that Webber could not engage in such behavior with others in the future, the suit states.

“Instead, Cabrillo allowed her to leave the aquarium with an unblemished record, which allowed Webber to continue her predatory conduct and gain access to young girls she mentored at future places of employment,” the suit states.

—City News Service

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Photo via GabboT (Sherilyn Fenn 01) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Carolyn Dye, an attorney for Sumie Mishima and Leslie Militzok, filed documents in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday notifying Judge Mark Borenstein about Fenn’s financial status. The filing creates an automatic stay on the plaintiffs’ legal proceedings against her.

The judge is scheduled to hold a judgment-debtor examination hearing in Fenn’s case on Monday.

According to the suit filed in September 2006, Fenn and the plaintiffs reached an agreement in July 2003 for the actress to lease a home they owned on Laurelmont Drive and signed a six-month extension in June 2006 at $3,800 a month.

The landlords alleged that Fenn moved out in September 2006 and failed to pay $15,200 still due under the contract extension, as well as thousands of dollars more in overdue rent and late fees.

They also claimed she caused more than $18,100 damage to the home in what her landlords’ court papers maintained was a repeat of her behavior at a property she previously rented. The parties settled in December 2007.

In a declaration filed with the court in February 2007, Fenn talked about dealing with what she called a “faltering career” that led to a bankruptcy filing in 2003, the ordeal of caring for her teenage son, a special needs student, and a difficult pregnancy at age 42.

She claimed she signed the six-month rent extension under pressure from the landlords and told them in August 2006 that she would be leaving.

In her own declaration, Militzok said she had trouble renting the home after Fenn left because of strong odors and “clutter everywhere.”

Fenn, now 51, was among the most recognizable actresses on television in the early 1990s with her role as a high school femme fatale on “Twin Peaks.” She also appeared on the CW Network’s “Gilmore Girls” and  the quickly-canceled crime drama “Smith.”

—City News Service

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Photo by John Schreiber.

One of the San Pedro High School students sexually molested by a substitute science teacher sued her and the Los Angeles school district, alleging negligence, breach of mandatory duty and sexual abuse.

The plaintiff, identified only as John Doe, alleged Michelle Yeh drugged him and gave him alcohol to induce him into a sexual relationship.

Yeh, 29, was sentenced to four years in prison on Jan. 15 after pleading no contest to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the molestation of at least three students.

The felony counts included engaging in sexual intercourse with a minor under 16, oral copulation of a minor under 16 and committing a lewd act on a child. She also pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count each of child molestation involving a 16-year-old boy and to violating a court order not to have any contact with the three teens. Prosecutors said she texted one of the victims.

The plaintiff’s mother, identified as Mrs. Doe, filed the lawsuit on his behalf Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit, which also names The suit seeks unspecified damages.

An LAUSD spokeswoman did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff, now 16 years old, was 15 when he was abused by Yeh. The teacher, 28 years old at the time, was the boy’s 10th grade biology teacher, the suit states.

Yeh initially flirted with the teen and showed him favoritism, then escalated her conduct to sexual molestation, the suit alleges. She bought the boy video games and tennis shoes and also took him to Disneyland and to restaurants, the suit states.

“She also provided plaintiff with marijuana, alcohol and prescription drugs such as Xanax,” the suit states. “After drinking alcohol and abusing drugs, Yeh would engage in sexual intercourse with John Doe.”

Yeh began abusing the boy last May or June and continued to do so at school, in his home and at “other locations in the community” until the teen’s mother learned of the teacher’s misconduct when he confided in her on July 21, the suit states.

Yeh has caused “irreparable harm to John Doe,” the suit states.

The complaint further alleges that the LAUSD was negligent in its supervision of Yeh and also in not properly overseeing the boy to make sure he was safe.

Yeh must register as a sex offender for the rest of her life after she is released from prison, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Yeh became a permanent substitute teacher in February 2015 and pursued relationships with several male students, according to prosecutors.

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Kris Jenner April 2014. Photo by Jim Jordan [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Gabriel Fedida maintained in his lawsuit filed last April 24 that he thought the home was to be used for a small adult gathering, but that it instead was used for Jenner’s daughter Kendall’s “wild” 19th birthday celebration in November 2014.

He sued Ewing Realty Group Inc. and Sotheby’s International Realty in addition to Jenner.

Fedida’s attorney filed papers with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Marc Marmaro stating that the case against all defendants was resolved. No terms were divulged.

Fedida’s suit, which alleged breach of contract, fraud and negligence, sought $101,450 for damage to the property and another $50,000 for loss of its use.

He claimed those in attendance at the event caused severe damage to his property. The “wild birthday party” had more than 100 guests, most of them around Kendall Jenner’s age, and featured “loud amplified music and a male stripper,” according to his court papers.

Fedida, who charged a $10,000 rental fee and an equal amount for a security deposit, believed the event would be a small dinner party with no more than 15 people in attendance, according to his suit.

—City News Service

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Photo via Shutterstock

A judge ruled Thursday that a woman can move forward with her lawsuit against a Hancock Park all-girls school and a teacher she alleges initiated a yearlong sexual relationship with her when she was 16 and got her pregnant.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Richard Rico denied a motion by attorneys for Marlborough School to dismiss the case. They argued the woman, who is now in her early 30s, waited too long to file the case. She alleges she was abused by teacher Joseph Koetters from 2000-02.

The woman’s attorneys state in their court papers that she did not realize the psychological harm Koetters caused her until 2014 when she read an online essay written by another female who claimed she also was sexually harassed by Koetters.

The lawsuit, filed last April 8, alleges school officials knew of past allegations of sexual misconduct by Koetters at Polytechnic School in Pasadena and, but failed to investigate them.

Koetters was arrested in February 2015. The 48-year-old Santa Monica resident was sentenced to a year in county jail in October on charges that he engaged in sex acts with two 16-year-old girls more than a decade ago, including the plaintiff.

The plaintiff says Koetters impregnated her in 2002.

“Her teacher reacted coldly when she informed him of the pregnancy and he matter-of-factly assumed that she would have an abortion and told her that he would make the arrangements,” the plaintiff’s attorneys stated in their court papers.

The woman later had a miscarriage.

—City News Service

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A woman walks past a Porter Ranch sign at the entrance to Southern California Gas Co.’s Aliso Canyon storage field. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Southern California Gas Co. filed an appeal Friday of a judge’s order requiring the company to continue funding temporary housing for Porter Ranch residents whose neighborhoods were affected by the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak.

The original deadline for displaced residents to return to their homes, with SoCalGas ending the funding for their temporary housing, was Thursday, but a judge issued an order Thursday afternoon extending the deadline until March 18.

SoCalGas officials said the decision by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu M. Berle was contrary to scientific evidence showing there is no health threat to residents from the leak, which began Oct. 23 and was cut off on Feb. 11 and officially declared capped Feb. 18.

“Our decision to file an appeal recognizes the substantial, public body of scientific data from local, independent air quality and health agencies that have demonstrated that the air quality in the area has never posed any long-term health risk, and that the air has now returned to the typical air quality levels that existed prior to the leak,” according to the utility.

“These health agencies say that with the leak gone, related symptoms should be gone. Air quality levels in and around Porter Ranch are consistent with levels before the leak occurred occurred.”

The order issued by Berle on Thursday came at the request of Los Angeles County.

Led by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the Board of Supervisors has been pushing for the Gas Co. to give residents 30 days before returning to their homes, to provide assurances that the air has cleared and there is no lingering health risk.

The utility’s attorneys argued that the county’s own health experts said there was no threat of long-term health effects from the leak and that any short-term health effects will dissipate now that the leak has been capped.

The Gas Co. also noted that it is costing the company as much as $2 million a day to house roughly 3,400 displaced residents.

Attorneys for the county, however, argued that some residents who have already returned home after the capping of the leak are still reporting health issues, and more time should be allowed so additional air monitoring can be completed to ensure there is no lingering risk.

“The Southern California Gas Co. appealing the court order to allow victims of the Aliso Canyon gas leak 30 days to return to their homes, as recommended by the Los Angeles County Public Health Department and the Board of Supervisors, is another roadblock for the Porter Ranch community,” Antonovich said. “The Gas Co. needs to wake up and begin serving the people and not themselves.”

SoCal had reached an agreement earlier this month with the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office that gave most displaced residents eight days to return to their homes once the leak was officially declared capped by the state. That declaration was made Feb. 18.

SoCal officials insisted that the eight-day moving window was more than enough time for residents to return home, and that there was no threat to anyone’s health. According to the utility, the county’s demand for a 30-day moving window “conflicts with the science and health assessments made by the county’s own health experts.”

SoCal officials said Wednesday that 2,081 households had already checked out of their temporary housing and returned home. As of mid-February, more than 4,600 households were in temporary homes, according to SoCalGas.

In light of Thursday’s ruling and Friday’s appeal, SoCal Gas Co. issued amended guidelines allowing some residents who already checked out of their temporary housing to return.

According to the updated guidelines, residents who are still in hotels at company expense can remain there, pending the outcome of the appeal. Residents who were in hotels but checked out between Feb. 18 and Thursday will be allowed to re-enroll in the temporary housing program while the appeal is pending.

Residents who opt to stay in the temporary housing must complete a form online at www.alisoupdates.com.

— City News Service

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