Sacramento Attorney Dan McNamara filed the claim against the county on Tuesday on behalf of his client, David Garzoli, 43.
Garzoli spent 20 years with the sheriff's office before his employment ended May 12, as Lake County News has reported.
McNamara, who previously indicated that Garzoli planned to fight the loss of his job, offered no comment on the claim, which was submitted Tuesday to the clerk of the Board of Supervisors.
Sheriff Rod Mitchell said Tuesday, “I have not reviewed Dave's complaint in total with county counsel but I will do so as a response to the claim is prepared.”
County Counsel Anita Grant said the claim will be forwarded to the county's third-party administrator, which will have up to 45 days to investigate the claim.
If it appears the county is at fault, the administrator would recommend a settlement, she said.
Garzoli is seeking damages in excess of $10,000, including attorney fees and costs in regard to what his claim characterizes as “wrongful employment actions” by the county.
The claim alleges that the Board of Supervisors and Mitchell violated Penal Code Section 832.7 – which protects peace officer personnel records – by publicly discussing Garzoli's time cards and rate of pay, which came up during the dissemination of audit findings related to a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) grant.
That DEA grant for marijuana eradication was used to fund helicopter reconnaissance. Garzoli was learning to fly a helicopter under the auspices of that grant, which the Board of Supervisors found out about after he had a crash landing last summer, as Lake County News has reported.
Garzoli later was demoted from lieutenant to sergeant, and sent an e-mail to Mitchell last Sept. 9 apologizing for the helicopter training.
A few days after sending that e-mail he posted an entry on an insurance forum in which he said he was training to become an insurance agent and that he planned “to use my knowledge of local crime trends to exploit peoples emotions to get appointments.”
Meanwhile, concerns about the DEA grant's usage led to discussions over several meetings about whether the use of the funds was proper. The board also discussed requiring Garzoli to repay at least some of the funds, an option the board was still considering during its most recent discussion on the matter in March.
The claim alleges that after initially violating the personnel rules late last year by way of the public discussions, the Board of Supervisors “was placed on notice that revealing a peace officer's confidential personnel matters is illegal.”
On Jan. 5, the board is alleged to have “willfully elected to again disregard Sergeant Garzoli's rights and, in a public meeting, further discussed matters related to Sergeant Garzoli' s employment as a peace officer,” the claim stated.
During that meeting the board held another discussion in which it voted to ask the DEA, Federal Aviation Administration and California Attorney General's Office to investigate Garzoli's activities. District Attorney Jon Hopkins currently is conducting an investigation into the matter after state and federal officials denied the board's request for the inquiry.
The claim also alleges that Mitchell discussed an internal affairs investigation related to Garzoli with a local newspaper reporter, in this case Katy Sweeny of the Lake County Record-Bee, who wrote a story published Jan. 7 discussing Garzoli's helicopter flying activities.
Garzoli's claim said he has been deprived of his constitutional rights, which in turn has created “a hostile working environment, embarrassment and humiliation that he has had to endure and will continue to endure when he attempts to find other employment.”
Public disclosure of Garzoli's private information “exceeded the scope of what would reasonably occur in the course and scope of employment,” with McNamara's filing accusing the county of “intentionally or negligently” inflicting emotional distress on Garzoli by releasing the information.
“Dissemination of the personal details of his administrative process will severely impact his ability to seek employment in his desired profession,” the filing states.
According to the claim, Garzoli has suffered emotionally and physically as a result of the disclosure about his case.
“He has been treated for high blood pressure. These physical manifestations of the severe emotional distress caused by Lake County employees and representatives provides the basis for the negligent infliction of emotional distress,” the claim stated.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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