Judge Again Sides With D.A. in Suit

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has denied a request to reinstate four former Orange County prosecutors who claimed in a lawsuit that they’d been unfairly demoted.

The prosecutors included former Deputy Dist. Atty. Wally Wade, who unsuccessfully challenged Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas for the job in 1998 and 2002. The prosecutors claimed they were punished for their support of Wade’s campaign by being moved in 2002 to the Office of Child Support Services, which later was taken over by the state.

Judge Philip H. Hickok ruled that Rackauckas was within his rights to move the lawyers to the new office.

Earlier, the judge dismissed the rest of a lawsuit by the former workers, saying a state provision protecting demoted employees didn’t apply to government workers.

There is one lawsuit remaining from personnel moves Rackauckas made. A civil rights lawsuit by former deputy prosecutor Joseph Smith challenging his move to family support is pending in federal court. Smith is in private practice.