INGLEWOOD – A judge has issued a ruling in the ongoing legal battle between Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. and his former aide/girlfriend Melanie McDade.
McDade is seeking $65 million in damages from the City, Mayor Butts, former City Manager Artie Fields and newly appointed Asst. City Manager Jose Cortes.
McDade alleges she was wrongfully terminated after ending her consensual relationship with Butts and that the City failed to investigate sexual harassment allegations when he continued to leverage their relationship status against her employment, based on text messages between the two.
The court was expected to rule on sanctions assessed related to discovery requests that have gone unfulfilled.
The City is accusing McDade of “stall” tactics, while McDade alleges the City is not fulfilling its obligations under discovery by denying the existence of nearly eight years of emails that McDade is requesting from a variety of city employees throughout city hall and the police department.
The ruling issued by Judge Lia Martin is dated Aug. 29, 2024, but was not uploaded to the court’s website until this week.
Both the final status conference and trial date have been vacated and both parties are due back in court Oct. 1 to set a new trial date. No ruling was made regarding the sanctions.
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