L.A. County candidates will remain defendants in former campaign volunteer's lawsuit

Two candidates from Los Angeles County running for state and local offices will remain defendants in a lawsuit alleging they are financially responsible for the sexual abuse of an underage volunteer who worked on their campaigns, a judge ruled Thursday.

Efren Martinez, who is running for a seat representing South Los Angeles in the California Assembly, and Graciela Ortiz, a candidate for L.A. school board, were under fire this year after the civil lawsuit was filed . The campaign worker accused of the abuse, Billy Valdivia, pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with the volunteer.

Both the perpetrator and victim were involved in campaign work in 2021 for Ortiz and Martinez, according to the suit, filed on Jan. 9 in L.A. County Superior Court.

Judge Lee W. Tsao ruled Friday morning that the plaintiff's attorney should have an opportunity to prove that Martinez's alleged negligence in hiring, training and supervising Valdivia was a "substantial factor" in the harm inflicted on the volunteer, a female high school student.

The judge did not feel that this cause of action against Martinez applied to Ortiz and dismissed her from that portion of the lawsuit. However, the judge kept Ortiz in the lawsuit because Ortiz is alleged to have had a special relationship with the student and it could be shown that "a greater degree of care is owed to children because of their lack of capacity to appreciate risk and danger." The judge also decided to review evidence that the defendants "agreed to a common plan" to cover up Valdivia's actions.

A former attorney for both Martinez and Ortiz previously argued that the lawsuit was a carefully timed political "smear."

“It’s unfortunate folks want to play politics with the court system to influence an election, but we expect this case to be kicked out like it was the first time,” said Michael Trujillo a campaign spokesperson for Ortiz and Martinez.

Ortiz's full-time job has been as a school support administrator overseeing counselors. But during the alleged events, she was a school counselor, which she had been most of her district career dating to 2006. Ortiz also lost a bid for a school board seat in 2019.

Ortiz was temporarily removed from her job as an L.A. Unified counseling administrator shortly after the lawsuit was filed. The school district declined to comment on why Ortiz was removed from her job or how that situation was resolved, but she returned to work within a few weeks. Ortiz also has not commented on that.

Thomas Scully, an attorney for the plaintiff, argued that as the student's counselor, Ortiz had a trusting relationship that made her responsible if the teenager she came into a situation and suffered harm.

Martinez is a Marine veteran and has served as the executive director of the Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce. In 2020, he lost a former bid against incumbent and fellow Democrat Reggie Jones-Sawyer in a tight race, receiving 42% of the vote.

A political action committee opposing Martinez has seized on the lawsuit to convince voters he's unfit for office. The PAC is largely funded by the California Teachers Assn., the SEIU California State Council and the California School Employees Assn. Two of those groups have endorsed his opponent, Sade Elhwary, in the Assembly District 52 race.

"It is disgusting and very disappointing that they are using this politically driven lawsuit .... Even after we have informed my opponent Sade and the union, that they continue to stoop this low to disseminate very disgusting information," Martinez told The Times before the Oct. 10 hearing. After the hearing, he did not respond to requests for comment.

The suit seeks unspecified damages for the accuser, identified as “B.A.," from Valdivia, who also pleaded no contest to a weapons charge, along with Martinez and Ortiz, according to court records.

Times staff writer Howard Blume contributed to this report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .