[Orange v. Orange County] O.C. Public Defender Loses Federal Race Case

In U.S. Federal District Court Case No. CV-03-6147, Hon. Christina A. Snyder presiding, Plaintiff, Olu K. Orange, prevailed over Defendants, Orange County and Deborah A. Kwast (sitting Orange County Public Defender).

BACKGROUND: In December of 2002, ORANGE (African-American) was terminated from the O.C. Public Defender's Office less than one month after he brought concerns about racial discrimination in the workplace to senior management. Upon raising his concerns with management, ORANGE was accused of having flawed reasoning skills and judgment, accused of practicing law outside the office, and subsequently accused of generally not being a good lawyer. In contrast, all of ORANGE'S written performance evaluations prior to his termination had been outstanding. Additionally, ORANGE'S clients, and the judges he worked with daily, remarked that ORANGE was a superb advocate.

OUTCOME: On August 11th, 2005, at exactly 6:00 pm, having concluded two weeks of trial -- a federal jury returned the following verdict against defendants Kwast & County of Orange:

Jury Verdict: FOR PLAINTIFF OLU ORANGE.
Plaintiff's "termination from the Orange County
Public Defender's Office was in retaliation
for the exercise of his constitutional
right to freedom of speech on matters of public
concern under the First Amendment."

Specific Findings: The termination was: (1) "in
retaliation for plaintiff's speech in voicing concerns
to Senior Management about possible racial
discrimination in the workplace." (2) "in retaliation
for plaintiff's speech in speaking in support of his
rights under the First Amendment to have a website
containing matters of public concern."

Plaintiff's Counsel: Michael Seplow & K. Arianne Jordan of Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman - Venice, CA.

Defense Counsel: Norman Watkins & William Bernard of Lynberg & Watkins - Orange, CA.