Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León and former Councilmember Gil Cedillo, two of four powerful figures who were secretly taped as they made racist comments and discussed how to get more Latinos on the City Council, are suing two former labor union employees they believe played a role in leaking the backroom discussion.
The leak set off a political firestorm of media coverage a year ago. Among other leaders, President Joe Biden urged the four figures heard on the tape to resign, and two of those powerful leaders did so — L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez and L.A. County Federation of Labor head Ron Herrera.
But de León and Cedillo are fighting back. In separate but similar lawsuits filed last week, the two claimed that the discussion was illegally recorded and that the audio leak damaged their reputations.
In the complaints filed in L.A. County Superior Court, both de León and Cedillo named as defendants two former employees at the L.A. County Federation of Labor (L.A. Fed). Cedillo’s lawsuit said, “there is no doubt that the parties responsible for the recording committed a felony under California law.”
Cedillo’s lawsuit left open the possibility that others who work for, or are affiliated with, the federation also could be identified as defendants. Cedillo is also suing L.A. Fed itself.
The October 2021 bare-knuckled conversation that created a media firestorm took place during a private meeting at L.A. Fed’s headquarters. In July of this year, investigators from the Los Angeles Police Department served a search warrant at the home of two L.A. Fed employees. But to date, investigators have not publicly identified either person as a suspect who secretly taped the meeting, and no arrests have been made.
A spokesperson for L.A. Fed said Tuesday that a representative for the organization, which is a federation of about 300 union and labor organizations representing more than 800,000 members, would respond to a request for comment — but L.A. Fed has yet to weigh in.
The LAPD said in an email on Thursday, Oct. 12, that an investigation into the secret recording and audio leak “is open and ongoing” but would not provide further details.
A spokesperson for the L.A. District Attorney’s Office said in an email this week that a case “was presented to our office and sent back to law enforcement for further investigation.” But the D.A.’s Office added, “We cannot confirm the target(s) of the investigation at this time.”
De León claims that he’s been the target of verbal assault, ethnic slurs, death threats, had been spat on and suffered “permanent damage to his reputation and political future.”
He has announced that he will seek reelection in 2024 to his Council District 14 seat representing Angelenos in downtown L.A., Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno and Northeast L.A. From 2006 to 2018, De Leon served in the state Assembly and then the state Senate, where was elected by fellow senators to be the senate leader.
Cedillo, in his lawsuit, says “individuals responsible for the recording have never apologized and have never been held accountable.”
“There is no justification for this illegal wiretap, or turning a blind eye to the crime, regardless of the conversation’s content,” states Cedillo’s legal complaint. “While Plaintiff never broke any laws, there is no doubt that the parties responsible for the recording committed a felony under California law.”
Both lawsuits claim invasion of privacy and negligence, accusing the defendants of “negligently, carelessly, recklessly, unlawfully and wantonly” violating the council members’ privacy rights.
Cedillo, who lost his bid for reelection to the City Council in June 2022 before the scandal exploded, and left office in December, stated in his complaint that his reputation took a hit, and that he lost income and job offers due to the audio leak. Cedillo served in the California state Legislature from 1998 to 2012.
“The release of the recordings was … designed to kneecap Plaintiff’s future political aspirations and inflict maximum damage on his reputation,” Cedillo’s complaint states.
The backroom meeting that brought turmoil to City Hall unfolded in October 2021 when Cedillo, de León, Martinez and Herrera – all Latinos – met privately at the height of the city’s redistricting process to discuss how they wanted City Council district maps redrawn to benefit themselves or their allies, and to increase Latino representation on the council.
When their taped private discussion was posted anonymously to Reddit a year later and was widely heard, many critics viewed the meeting as an attempt to dilute Black voting power in Los Angeles.
The conversation was also laced with racist or derogatory comments about one fellow council member’s adopted Black son, Oaxacans and other groups.
In the recorded conversation, Nury Martinez, then the president of the City Council, said that then-City Councilmember Mike Bonin, who is White, lugged his Black son around like an “accessory.” In the recording, De León chimed in with, “Just like when Nury brings her Goyard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag.”
De León later told news outlets his remark was not an attack on Bonin’s family but intended as a joke about Martinez’s “penchant for having luxury handbags.” He later apologized for his “flippant” remark and said he should have spoken up when Martinez uttered her offensive comments.
Similar to de Leon, Cedillo has apologized for not speaking up when others in the room made offensive comments, but insists he never said anything inappropriate.
At one point in the recorded conversation, those present discussed how many Oaxacans live in Koreatown.
“Puro Oaxacan Koreans,” said Cedillo. “Not even like Kevin, little ones.”
Herrera, who was the powerful president of L.A. Fed at the time, then referred to Oaxacans as Indians: “My mom used to call them indios,” he said.
The four also discussed how they wanted the City Council district boundaries to be redrawn in their favor.
Both legal complaints filed by attorneys on behalf of de León and Cedillo state that comments from the meeting were taken out of context and misinterpreted from Spanish slang to English. In addition, the complaints claim that de León and Cedillo “never made any comment that was even remotely offensive during the illegally recorded conversation.”
Both men are seeking compensatory, punitive and other damages, as well as a trial by jury.
