Lost Hills lieutenant who didn’t get captain’s job files discrimination suit

Seetoo is former acting captain of the local sheriff's station



Jennifer Seetoo             Courtesy photo

Lt. Jennifer Seetoo, the one-time acting captain of Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department alleging that she suffered sexual harassment, gender discrimination and other retaliation at the hands of Sheriff Alex Villanueva and his staff.

Seetoo, a 22-year veteran of the department, filed the lawsuit Jan. 27 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Her complaint alleges that Villanueva and other high-ranking officials in the department used their positions to keep her from being considered as the permanent captain of Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, then demoted her, spread rumors about her, and promoted less-qualified colleagues over her.

She is seeking unspecified damages and is asking the sheriff to “cease and desist” with its discriminatory behavior.

“In the year since he was elected, Villanueva has repeatedly promoted his male friends, applied more favorable standards to male employees than females generally and made disparaging comments about women within the LASD and to the media,” the complaint says. “He also has directed a vicious and cynical attack on one of the LASD’s finest female lieutenants, blocking (Seetoo) from the opportunity to promote to captain, directing his executives to demote her twice, belittling her, planting spies to watch her work, criticizing her success, and transferring her out of the jurisdiction where she served admirably and provided rare experience in responding to fires during the most critical part of fire season.”

Seetoo transferred to the Lost Hills station on Nov. 4, 2018 as the operations lieutenant. The very next day she was promoted to acting captain after then-captain Josh Thai was placed on medical leave. Seetoo led the station through the Borderline shooting, the Woolsey fire and the fire recovery.

Her leadership during that period earned her numerous accolades from the cities in the department’s service area, as well as L.A. County Fire Department officials and the lieutenants in her department. She was even named by state Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas) as his district’s Woman of the Year, an award she accepted on the floor of the capitol last March.

Seetoo’s lawyers said she applied to be the captain of Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station but was denied the opportunity, despite endorsements from numerous local and county officials, the complaint states.

The complaint alleges that Seetoo’s superiors believed she was making political moves in order to gain the promotion. Her superiors reportedly said in a January 2019 meeting that Seetoo had an inappropriate relationship with one of the city managers in the five-city, Lost Hills jurisdiction (Malibu, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Agoura Hills and Westlake Village) and that she was being demoted.

On multiple occasions, the suit says, Seetoo was told she had to gain more experience and time of service at her position before she could be promoted.

The complaint alleges that Seetoo was transferred to a station in West Hollywood in October 2019 just a few days short of her one-year anniversary at Lost Hills. Had she been at the Calabasas station for a full year she would have been eligible for a transfer or a promotion. The lawsuit alleges the transfer to West Hollywood was a calculated move to keep Seetoo from meeting the requirements for a promotion, whereas male colleagues are routinely given waivers about the same rule.

The county declined to comment on the litigation.

“We are unable to provide comment at this time and have neither received the lawsuit . . . nor are aware of its content,” the L.A. County Sheriff’s Information Bureau said in a statement.

Despite continually being rebuffed for a promotion, Seetoo was the only lieutenant at the Lost Hills Station who had strong experience dealing with a wildfire.

“On Oct. 10, 2019 the Saddle Ridge Fire ignited in Sylmar, Calif. and affected the (Lost Hills) jurisdiction,” the complaint said. “Within the first hours of the fire (Lost Hills) Capt. Vander Horck, the Los Angeles Fire Department and LASD executives all reached out to Seetoo for guidance. Seetoo worked 38 hours straight and helped coordinate the initial response to the fire.”

Second time

Seetoo is the second lieutenant from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station in the past year to file a lawsuit alleging mistreatment at the hands of the county. Lieutenant Jim Royal filed a suit in June 2019 alleging the sheriff’s department repeatedly ignored his concerns about a potential gunman on the loose in the Santa Monica Mountains who was responsible for shootings and burglaries dating back to 2016.

Royal’s lawsuit claims he was scapegoated by the department, which was the subject of intense scrutiny after the murder of Tristan Beaudette at Malibu Creek State Park Campground in 2018. Area residents were outraged the sheriff was aware of multiple confirmed reports of gunfire but had done nothing to warn the public of any danger in the area.

Royal and Seetoo were both transferred to stations far from their homes for what the department calls “freeway therapy”—a long commute to give the “offender” time to consider their actions against the department.

Seetoo was one of the first women to graduate as an honor recruit from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Academy. She previously worked as deputy director of the Joint Regional Intelligence Center, a cooperative effort between United States federal, state and local law enforcement and public safety agencies to address terrorism-related threat intelligence for the greater Los Angeles region.

She and her husband, Joseph, reside in Agoura Hills.

Follow Ian Bradley on Twitter @Ian_reports.